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Arend Thibodeau is an author, registered guide and Navy veteran from central Maine.
Most of us are aware of the Cold War and the conflict of ideologies that occurred as both the United States and Soviet Union flexed their proverbial muscles for more than four decades. The former was a democratic and influencing member of the Western Allies and the later, the controlling power of the Eastern Bloc, led by Josef Stalin in Communist Russia. Each country amassed massive nuclear arms stockpiles, and it all started at the end of World War II when the two countries emerged from the war as reigning superpowers.
The U.S. had harnessed atomic energy and the world watched as we demonstrated its power in Japan. It was a short-lived deterrent, so in efforts to contain any Soviet threat, the National Security Act was created in 1947 designating the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of service.
The newly formed Air Force and its Strategic Air Command (SAC) wasted no time building an impressive infrastructure in the defense of the U.S. and its positions abroad. Among the many considerations with the infrastructure design was the newly developed B-36 “peacemaker” bomber. It could carry any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal, had a range of 12,000 miles and weighed 300,000 pounds.
Limestone was selected as the first base location in the U.S. to be designed specifically for the B-36, and the arch hanger designed to accommodate the large bombers was a marvel of modern engineering. The arch hanger was large enough to accommodate two B-36 aircraft.
The base was constructed between 1947 and 1953; originally named Limestone Air Force Base, it was changed to Loring in October 1954 to honor fallen hero and Maine native, Charles Loring.
In October 1957, Strategic Air Command established a nuclear alert force, and by July 1958, an average of four B-52 bombers and three KC-135 refueling aircraft were on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week at Loring. The alert force maintained a constant state of readiness until Oct. 3, 1991, when President H. W. Bush ordered all nuclear alert crews to stand down.
The story of the Cold War is long and detailed, with many nuclear weapons being stored and staged at Loring Air Force Base; the only thing that prevented all-out war was the mutually assured destruction of both countries.
The arch hanger, which has stood since 1949, is now in peril. Years of neglect are starting to reveal damage to the protective outer layer of the hanger, and it will soon begin to deteriorate without protection from the elements.
In January 1998, the Department of the Air Force prepared a historic building inventory and evaluation report and determined the Airfield, Arch Hanger, DC Hanger, Weapons Storage Area and the Alert Area all qualified as being historically significant and eligible for protection in the National Register of Historic places. For some reason, nothing was done regarding this report.
The 2020 census lists the population of Limestone at 1,526. In 1990, (four years before Loring closed) the population was 9,922; this was down from a Cold War peak of 13,102 residents in 1960. Whatever the Loring Development Authority is doing to curtail the steady decline of residents in the area, it’s not working.
The Loring Development Authority has spent 30 years trying to generate industry in the Limestone region only to have it continually falter or fail entirely. Perhaps it is time to consider a state-run historic park centering around these historic buildings to bring jobs and tourism into the area. It seems to me that the Loring Development Authority has no active interest in the history of the Limestone area and is so consumed with the prospect of industry moving into the area, it is overlooking the potential for tourism and job development with a recreational, Cold War Park.
Here is a non-comprehensive list of cold war facilities that have been successfully converted into historic attractions: Ronald Reagan Minuteman State Historical Site, Cooperstown, North Dakota; Quebec-01 Missile Alert Facility State Historical Site, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Abo Elementary School fallout shelter, Artesia, New Mexico; Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Jackson City, South Dakota; and HM-69 Nike Missile Base, Everglades Florida.
Why can’t Loring be added to this list?
