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The National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) anticipates demolition of the Mercury Bowling Alley (Building 23-517) on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) in Nye County, Nevada (Figure 1). This survey was prompted by plans to construct new facilities at the Bowling Alley location to support NNSS’s changing role in national security. The Bowling Alley has been largely vacant since the mid-1990s following the end of nuclear testing at what was then the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The building is suffering rapid decay.

An Area of Potential Effects (APE) of 4.5 acres was surveyed, resulting in recording and evaluation of the Bowling Alley (SHPO Resource Number B14451) and one associated resource (AR1). The APE is located in Section 11 T15S R53E MDBM (projected) at the principal NNSS base of Mercury in Area 23. In 2010, the NTS name was changed to the NNSS, and will be referred to as such throughout this report.

Fieldwork and report preparation were done by Desert Research Institute (DRI) cultural resources staff. Architectural descriptions and portions of this report specific to the architecture of the Bowling Alley were completed by Ron Reno, Ph.D., RPA who meets Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards for Architectural Historian. Administration of the project was by Colleen M. Beck, Ph.D. Historical background regarding Mercury and the NNSS was developed by Maureen King. Beck photographed the building and its environs.

Copies of the building form and report are on file in the Nevada Cultural Resources Inventory System at the Nevada State Office of Historic Preservation (SHPO); DRI, Las Vegas; and in the NNSA/NFO curation facility, Las Vegas.