If he were real - but dead - Oscar the Grouch might roll over in the garbage can where he lived.

The green Sesame Street character with no nose was the unofficial mascot of Oscar Zero, the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile silo north of Cooperstown. Through the Cold War years, he watched over those watching over the buttons, that if pushed, could have significantly altered world history. Oscar, you see, was featured in a facility mural strutting with an American eagle and both wore shoulder patches with the words "Kremlin Krushers."

The command center near Cooperstown is a part of North Dakota and world history, and the facility is apparently on its way to a new status as a museum. But how would Oscar feel about that? After all, his pet and friend, Slimey, was an orange worm. He hung out with characters like Big Bird, Elmo, Bert and Ernie. And his favorite song was "I love trash." Might he prefer the facility be turned into trash?

Oscar's wishes, whatever they might be, aren't germane. The question that begs to be asked, however, is if the state really needs to own a missile-silo museum, almost in the middle of nowhere, one that had its last alert (two-person staff manning the controls) on July 17, 1997?

Turning this Cold War enclave into a museum is reminiscent of the movie "Field of Dreams," when a voice whispers: "If you build it, he will come." In other words, a baseball field in the middle of a corn field will entice Shoeless Joe Jackson, blamed for his part in throwing the 1919 World Series, to come back from the dead.

The people of Cooperstown apparently believe thousands will come to see the museum. Maybe they are right. Oscar Zero museum supporters were awarded a $250,000 federal Save America's Treasures grant from the National Park Service, and a $250,000 match comes from the state Legislature. While it might be hard to image Oscar Zero as an American treasure, it qualified under some rather loose guidelines.

It is hoped Oscar Zero will become part of a Cold War Heritage Corridor, apparently with the assumption visitors will travel from museum to museum. Visitor estimates are based, in part, on the 25,000 who stop annually at a command center site in Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. That facility, however, is seven miles from Rapid City.

It's unclear how much money will be needed to get the site museum-ready. It has been estimated it will cost $100,000 a year to maintain and staff the museum. Some funds are expected from a "Friends of Oscar" group.

But the plans, all by well-meaning and good folks, seem to be a bit of a gamble. Still, maybe this Cooperstown will hit the jackpot and become the National Cold War Hall of Fame, patterned after the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Yes, stranger things have happened. Some folks claim Shoeless Joe displayed his talents in an Iowa corn field and others believe there really is a Cookie Monster.