MCC (Demolished)

 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic landmark, historical layer / disappeared object, historic ruins, military museum, space agency

The Mercury Control Center (later renamed Mission Control Center) was created during Project Mercury as a central control point for the entire mission. The blockhouse on Launch Complex 5/6 was still used as the launch control center, but once the mission took to the air, the Mercury Control facility took over to coordinate all aspects of the flight. Mercury Control was later renamed Mission Control when the Gemini Program got underway.

An adjoining area just outside the Mercury Control building came to be known as Press Site 2. So much public attention was focused on the manned missions, that every press organization was clamoring for permission to set up a camera or station a reporter close to the action. This press area was chosen because of its immediate proximity to the center of information, the Mercury Control building.

The press site had a semicircular ground area lined with telephone connections, an elevated platform for cameras, and a small building called the "fishbowl" which served as the public affairs control point for the press site. This press site continued in operation long after the Mercury and Gemini programs had wrapped up. It was perfectly situated a safe distance from Launch Complexes 17, 19, 36, and other complexes on ICBM Road.

The Mercury Control complex was demolished in 2010 and a historical marker (text below) was approved at the 12 October 2010 meeting of the Florida Historical Marker Council, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State.

The press site "fishbowl" is the only structure remaining from those early days of manned spaceflight. The adjacent alligator pond, which was a favorite of the attending press, is obscured by high underbrush and no longer visible.
Information copied from: afspacemuseum.org/ccafs/mercurycontrol/
Pictures from: www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/MCCgallery/g...