Controversy. Intrigue. Clandestine deliveries. Perpetually beaming security floodlights that made midnight seem like noon. A 24/7 armed Military Police surveilling presence. WWII had come to an end. Nuclear warfare was in its infancy, and the Cold War had just begun.
It was February 1955 when over 1,100 acres at the north end of the then-Seneca Ordnance Depot were transferred to the NY District of the Army Corps of Engineers for construction of a new munitions storage facility. By July 1956 the North Depot Activity Area was ready for use with numerous barracks, maintenance, machine, inspection, and administration buildings, and 64 munition storage igloos. Its moniker would evolve a couple more times until 1957 when the area would become known simply as the “Q.”
A total of 13 “Q” areas would come into existence in the United States alone. In 1958, the local “Q” would begin receiving special weapons via a secreted rear entrance in the northern most portion of the original Depot, now within Deer Haven Park and visible while on escorted tour; however, then out of sight of passersby, and hopefully out of the public’s inquisitive mindset.
A manned guard house held a pertinent presence on the main road, set to deter unnecessary visitors. A facade of which appeared to be merely a subsequent Ordnance entranceway. The main guard house entry point into the literal “Q” resided a mile down this entrance road and would maintain an even heavier MP presence. Designated a “no fly zone,” even daily helicopter patrol would stick to only perimeter surveilling of the grounds.
The Ordinance “Q” would be the largest special weapons site the U.S. Army oversaw on the East Coast. Background checks would be required of all workers, whether military or civilian; however, the only civilian workers allowed within its triple gated compound were cargo handlers who always required mandatory double MP escort.
These storage igloos were built to sustain near nuclear blasts. Special weapons and their components arriving within would require exceptional treatment, quality testing, protection, and care. Inspectors wore radioactivity “badge protectors” as some canisters arrived marked “CARC,” denoting carcinogens. These specialty badges would warn of any radioactive presence.
Semicircular concrete turrets protected entry and exit points from many isolated “Q” buildings, some of which were humidity and temperature controlled. Other buildings’ questionable purposes remain speculative to this day. Wonderment never ceases when even MPs reporting for duty required security point checks and an accurate half of a full digit code acknowledgment prior to entering the actual site where landscaping was kept to 3-inch grass height, making everything visible targets.
It wouldn’t be until autumn of 1961 that the “Q” would be cleared to officially join the Seneca Ordnance Depot as one entity, and not until 1962 when this would become effective. Later that year the Ordnance Depot would morph into the Seneca Army Depot whose commander oversaw all activities of SEAD and the “Q” combined. Meanwhile, nuclear fission technology would grow into the development of nuclear reactors and power generators, alerting the average citizen to a newfound energy source.
The year 1964 would find President Lyndon B. Johnson ending the government’s monopoly on nuclear energy by allowing private ownership over such materials. More than a decade later, the medical community would birth the MRI for diagnostic screening and what was once an archaic x-ray therapy became a cutting-edge radiation advancement for cancer patients.
Interestingly, nearly two decades later, in 1983 (a very controversial year in Depot history), additional Rocket Propelled Grenade Cages hosting intrusion detection mechanisms would be installed at numerous igloo entrances within the “Q.” Once again, and true to form even to this day, it all has left lingering questions for tourists of Deer Haven Park, and those who seek answers from beyond the fence.
Dee Calvasina is the author of “Beyond the Fence, The Amazing World of Deer Haven Park,” freelance writer, and monthly columnist for the Finger Lakes Times who supports the conservation of military history, nature, and wildlife at Deer Haven Park, LLC.
BEYOND THE FENCE: Lingering questions
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14.01.2024
Controversy. Intrigue. Clandestine deliveries. Perpetually beaming security floodlights that made midnight seem like noon. A 24/7 armed Military Police surveilling presence. WWII had come to an end. Nuclear warfare was in its infancy, and the Cold War had just begun.
It was February 1955 when over 1,100 acres at the north end of the then-Seneca Ordnance Depot were transferred to the NY District of the Army Corps of Engineers for construction of a new munitions storage facility. By July 1956 the North Depot Activity Area was ready for use with numerous barracks, maintenance, machine, inspection, and administration buildings, and 64 munition storage igloos. Its moniker would evolve a couple more times until 1957 when the area would become known simply as the “Q.”
A total of 13 “Q” areas would come into existence in the United States alone. In 1958, the local “Q” would begin receiving special weapons via a secreted rear entrance in the northern most portion of the original Depot, now within Deer Haven Park and visible while on escorted tour; however, then out........
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