Since 1943, North Bay, Ontario, has been central to the air defense of North America. In 1959, construction began on the underground SAGE (Semi-Automated Ground Environment) complex housing two massive mainframe computers that were an integral part of a continental system of air defense. North Bay became home to NORAD Region Headquarters, charged with the military control and defense of air space over northern North America.

As part of that defense system, a squadron of surface-to-air interceptor missiles equipped with nuclear warheads and proximity fuses was established just north of the city in 1961. Known as "BOMARC" (an acronym for Boeing and Michigan Aeronautical Research Centre), these nuclear-tipped missiles were jointly controlled by the American and Canadian military (the warheads themselves were the property of the US, the missiles Canadian). By the early 1970s, BOMARC technology had become outdated, and in late 1972 the missile squadron was disbanded and the nuclear warheads returned to the United States. One of the missiles was presented as a gift to the city of North Bay, eventually installed on pedestals on the south side of the overpass connecting downtown North Bay with the suburb of West Ferris.

A full 1:1 scale silhouette outline of this ‘gift’ missile was transposed into the WKP Kennedy Gallery space in such a way that it splayed across the floor as well as climbed along one wall. The silhouette outline was infilled with pertinent material scavenged from within the arts centre complex that houses the gallery and from businesses across the city that was installed so as to proportionally reflect – akin to a three dimensional bar graph – the importance of various aspects of the local economy.