Installation started in late 1959[1] after the United States Army had purchased 44 acres (18 ha).
[2][a] Adjacent to the Arlington Heights Air Force Station, the Arlington Heights Army Installation opened on October 28, 1960,[2] as the 8th of 10 Army Air Defense Command Posts (AADCP) to have a Martin AN/FSG-1 Antiaircraft Defense System installed for Nike-Hercules command and control.
In addition to the Army's 2 AN/FPS-6 radars,[3] the radars of the co-located[specify] USAF station provided AADCP data for the 45th Artillery Brigade's control of the Chicago-Gary Defense Area[2] (10 missile batteries and their Integrated Fire Control sites).
[1] The vacuum tube AN/FSG-1 was replaced c. October 1967[4][b] with a solid-state Hughes AN/TSQ-51 Air Defense Command and Coordination System, which controlled the combined Chicago-Milwaukee Defense Area after the Milwaukee Defense Area merged with Chicago-Gary in 1968.
[citation needed] Project Concise ended the site's Nike operations in 1974, and 52 acres (21 ha) were transferred to the city parks district.