BMEWS Central Computer and Display Facility
Federal Building, Ent and Peterson Air Force Bases
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| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
| 1520 E. Willamette, Colorado Springs, Colorado | |
Federal Building, Ent Air Force Base, 1962
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| Coordinates | 38°50′32″N 104°47′51″W / 38.84222°N 104.79750°WCoordinates: 38°50′32″N 104°47′51″W / 38.84222°N 104.79750°W |
| Type | Computer systems, Air Force Base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1962 for Burroughs Corporation |
| Built by |
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The Federal Building, originally the Burroughs Building, was a Cold War military computer systems building on the Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. It was built in 1962 to be used by Burroughs Corporation for its project to build an automated facility to take input, like satellite and radar information, and instantaneously assess its degree of combat importance. The program was designed in conjunction with Air Force 425L System Project engineers and was an important component in North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)'s command and control system. It was an Ent Air Force Base building until 1975 when the base was inactivated. It then became an off-base installation to the Peterson Air Force Base. Over the next several decades there were varying uses for the building by the federal government. After 2007, the building was vacated and in 2009 it was sold.
Burroughs Corporation was awarded a contract to develop a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) command and control system for its Combat Operations Center. The construction project, to be completed in 1964, included construction at the underground (Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station) facility and two other phases of the project. The system, designed in conjunction with Air Force 425L Systems Project engineers at Burrough's high speed computer complex in Massachusetts, was to be "an automated facility for centralizing the evaluation of critical aerospace surveillance points, providing computations in one-millionth of a second." Its sources of information included radar and satellites.
The 44,000 square feet (4,100 m2) or 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) two-story Burroughs Building was constructed in 1962 on 1.7 acres for the Burroughs Corporation, as designed by C. Dewey King. The building included offices and laboratories for NORAD's electronics and communications systems. It was owned by Davis-Becker Construction company, who then leased it to Burroughs.
In 1970, a Museum of Heritage collection was built for the Fourteenth Aerospace Force in Ent Air Force Base's Burroughs Building. The collection consisted of items from personnel who served with the Flying Tigers or its forerunner the American Volunteer Group in China. The displays—including Chinese coins, patches, flying jackets, and flags—were to be completed September 1970.
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