Counting down to the transfer of a former Cold War missile battery on Bennetts Creek Park Road, city officials are getting ready to hit the launch button on North Suffolk’s first full-service public health and recreation center.

The 12-acre 1LT Richard T. Shea U.S. Army Reserve Center, located next to Creekside Elementary School, will be similar to East Suffolk and Whaleyville recreation centers, according to Lakita Watson, the city’s parks and recreation director.

“The community still wants access to affordable health facilities, so we do see a state-of-the-art health and fitness facility,” she said.

The property — which Watson said Friday would transfer to the city within 30 days — was a Nike missile site between the late 1950s and 1967, when it was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve, according to an Army Reserve report.

Produced by the Fort Dix, N.J.-based U.S. Army Reserve 99th Regional Support Command, the draft report finds the site poses no public health risks, clearing it for transfer.

Aimed at thwarting any Soviet aggression, Project Nike, with hundreds of sites across the United States, was the country’s first anti-aircraft missile system.

Missile battery N-63 was one of eight U.S. Army Norfolk Defense Area bases.

Historical aerial photographs show the Nike facility there was demolished between 1979 and 1981, according to the transfer report.

The present 16,500 square foot building was constructed in 1981. Behind security fencing, and usually flanked by various armored vehicles in the parking lot, it features multiple offices, kitchen, loading dock, showers, restrooms and storage, according to the report.

Watson said the city is working with architects to plan exactly what kind of health and fitness facilities the building could support.

“We are gathering input for the master plan,” she said, adding a games room, group exercise area and community spaces including computer labs are all being considered.

“These are some of the things we see trending nationwide, and we would like to incorporate them into this facility.”

Whether new construction will occur hasn’t been confirmed, Watson said, adding, “We feel confident that those things we are looking at will fit quite comfortably into the facility structure.”

The new facility is still a ways off. The Army will need to remain at the site while it constructs a new, larger facility on land the city swapped on Carolina Road.

Through the years, homes and other developments, including the elementary school, have sprouted all around the North Suffolk site. Deputy City Manager Patrick Roberts has said the Army wanted a site with less development around it.

Watson said site work for the Carolina Road facility is finished. Construction should get started within the next 15 to 30 days, she said, and is scheduled to last 14 to 16 months.

The city wants to create “connectivity” between the new health and fitness facility, which could also include athletics fields, and Creekside Elementary, Watson said.

“We feel that this will provide a full-service recreational center for all ages,” she said. “It will increase the opportunity for health and wellness, as well as for community engagement.”

Isle of Wight County’s Nike Park, in Carrollton, was also a Norfolk Defense Area base.