Yes, This Illinois Park Used to Be a Cold War Missile Launch Site
It appears that just about anything can be turned into a playground. Don't believe me? I can prove it with an Illinois park that is full of playground equipment, but it used to be a missile launch site during the Cold War era.
I found this interesting backstory about Nike Park in Addison, Illinois along with 17 other abandoned places on Atlas Obscura. It used to be equipped with state-of-the-art missiles, launchers and other things used to potentially respond to an all-out nuclear attack. Now, it's full of playground equipment.
There's even a very capable baseball field that the Addison Park District in Illinois utilizes.
The only remnants of what Nike Park used to be are a missile (not armed) on display and this old command tower.
Nike Park in Addison, Illinois is located west of the Chicago metro area. It's actually a fairly quiet little community that used to be the center of what would have been a last ditch effort to survive a nuclear war. If it were me, I'd avoid pressing any buttons you find remaining there...just in case.
