CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Few expanses of land have such a vivid connection to the heavens than here. As the nation’s grandstand, Cape Canaveral has been the site of over 3,000 rocket and missile launches and 135 space shuttle liftoffs. It’s a place that utterly symbolizes our constant urge to explore, each time the countdown commences and the white plumes spiral up from earth to sky.

Yet these 130,000 acres of sand and scrub brush have lately been on the brink, as NASA fights for its future. With the termination of the space shuttle program in 2011, and Congress generally in no mood to spend billions for manned space travel to Mars, the once bustling mid-section of Florida’s eastern coast was set to be oddly quiet. If we aren’t going to have a big space program, after all, we don’t need a big spaceport. Hand it back to the alligators.

NASA, of course, has no intention of fading away. And as if to drive a stake in the ground, the space agency has been busy with all kinds of building and renovation projects on its property, a physical expression of a determination to stay relevant through the 21st century. What’s happening at Cape Canaveral is a tribute to land-use reinvention.

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The super-sized Vehicle Assembly Building, where rockets and space shuttles were prepared for liftoff before being brought along a river-rock dual carriageway to launchpads, is also being re-imagined to accommodate commercial use. At 526 feet in height, the ultimate big box structure is a treasure trove of fun facts: tallest building in the world outside an urban area, a volume equal to three and a half times the Empire State Building, 250 billion ping pong balls can fit inside. A lot of energy—and karma—went into this building, so it’s nice that it’s not being demolished.

Re-purposing buildings is a common theme here, for both financial and environmental efficiency. NASA dutifully went for LEED platinum rating at the Propellants Maintenance Facility. Over by the area used for testing vehicles on a simulated surface of the moon, solar arrays are being put up, joining a giant solar farm installed in 2008.

The main headquarters building, where Major Anthony Nelson had his office in “I Dream of Jeannie,” was deemed to be beyond retrofitting, as is typical, unfortunately, for many mid-century modern structures. Its replacement will include reflective roofing, super-efficient cooling and lighting systems, and electric vehicle charging stations.

The effort is clearly being taken very seriously, although the engineers may be getting a bit carried away with the planning jargon, as evidenced by this official statement: “Expanded areas for alternative energy production are provided along with an additional seaport for water borne transportation connectivity.” I suppose it wouldn’t do to say something like “a place where boats can tie up.”

It’s less clear what to do with the three-mile landing strip for the space shuttle. Other airports are being returned to nature or otherwise re-imagined, but a piecemeal redevelopment is unlikely here.