Okay, so what's going on with the cadet chapel AKA The Cube?

Stormbird

Stormbird

Stormbird USAFA Grad
Joined
Apr 6, 2023
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I know renovations started in 2019 and were supposed to be finished in 4 years, and all I have seen are delays and extensions. It wasn't hard to start believing with all of the other construction projects getting finished so quickly that there was some kind of conspiracy.

So what's going on?

www.archpaper.com

The restoration of the Air Force Academy Chapel is the U.S.’s most complex modernist preservation project ever

The four-year, $158 million revitalization of SOM's Air Force Academy Chapel is a daunting challenge that drew a small army of restoration teams
www.archpaper.com www.archpaper.com

Cadet Chapel Renovations Progressing | US Air Force Academy AOG & Foundation

Serving the Long Blue Line - Alumni Association for the U.S. Air Force Academy
www.usafa.org www.usafa.org

Having been a chapel guide, I wish I had known the information contained in the first article.
 
Stormbird said:
I know renovations started in 2019 and were supposed to be finished in 4 years, and all I have seen are delays and extensions. It wasn't hard to start believing with all of the other construction projects getting finished so quickly that there was some kind of conspiracy.

So what's going on?

www.archpaper.com

The restoration of the Air Force Academy Chapel is the U.S.’s most complex modernist preservation project ever

The four-year, $158 million revitalization of SOM's Air Force Academy Chapel is a daunting challenge that drew a small army of restoration teams
www.archpaper.com www.archpaper.com

Cadet Chapel Renovations Progressing | US Air Force Academy AOG & Foundation

Serving the Long Blue Line - Alumni Association for the U.S. Air Force Academy
www.usafa.org www.usafa.org

Having been a chapel guide, I wish I had known the information contained in the first article.
Click to expand...
Its my understanding that when they started the renovations, they did not realize how much asbestos was in the walls. So up went the big box to protect the cadets. That added quite a bit of remediation work and extended the work to 2027.

www.usafa.edu

U.S. Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel restoration project expands

To preserve the Colorado landmark, Cadet Chapel restoration includes original reconstruction repairs and asbestos abatement.
www.usafa.edu www.usafa.edu
 
SpiritCommitteeLiaison said:
Its my understanding that when they started the renovations, they did not realize how much asbestos was in the walls. So up went the big box to protect the cadets. That added quite a bit of remediation work and extended the work to 2027.

www.usafa.edu

U.S. Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel restoration project expands

To preserve the Colorado landmark, Cadet Chapel restoration includes original reconstruction repairs and asbestos abatement.
www.usafa.edu www.usafa.edu
Click to expand...

Actually if I read the article correctly the Box was always planned in order to work through all of the forecasted inclement weather. The asbestos issue reared its ugly head only a couple years after the work started
 
Stormbird said:
Actually if I read the article correctly the Box was always planned in order to work through all of the forecasted inclement weather. The asbestos issue reared its ugly head only a couple years after the work started
Click to expand...
I agree. Not what I was told a couple of years ago regarding the big box, but it makes sense to protect it from the weather.
 
I said when they covered it up it should have a wrap or paint that looked exactly like the Chapel if you saw it from a distance. Especially since they said it was gonna be 4 years which is now looking like 8 years. The football stadium renovation will be done way sooner and started way later.
 
After they found asbestos throughout the structure...it extended to 2027 or so...
 
Blue&SilverBear said:
www.defense.gov

DOD to Divert $3.6 Billion to Fund 11 Barrier Projects at Southern Border

Defense Department officials say 127 military construction projects will be deferred to free $3.6 billion for construction or augmentation of barriers along 175 miles of the southern U.S. border.
www.defense.gov
Click to expand...


Family housing, barracks or dormitory projects were not considered for deferment, nor were projects that had already been awarded or those that were expected to be awarded during fiscal year 2019.
 
Bigrod said:
I said when they covered it up it should have a wrap or paint that looked exactly like the Chapel if you saw it from a distance. Especially since they said it was gonna be 4 years which is now looking like 8 years. The football stadium renovation will be done way sooner and started way later.
Click to expand...

A wrap on the cube that made it look like the chapel was still there ? For lack of a better word or phrase, that would have been totally awesome!
 
Bigrod said:
The football stadium renovation will be done way sooner and started way later.
Click to expand...
Wow!
USNA's stadium is owned by the Athletic Association so they can renovate without it being part of the Defense Bill that is subject to Congress's mood.
 
Bigrod said:
I said when they covered it up it should have a wrap or paint that looked exactly like the Chapel if you saw it from a distance. Especially since they said it was gonna be 4 years which is now looking like 8 years. The football stadium renovation will be done way sooner and started way later.
Click to expand...
Well...it IS football. Many are a lot more religious about attending football services. 😄
 
Bigrod said:
I said when they covered it up it should have a wrap or paint that looked exactly like the Chapel if you saw it from a distance. Especially since they said it was gonna be 4 years which is now looking like 8 years. The football stadium renovation will be done way sooner and started way later.
Click to expand...
Private funding versus Government funding!
 
We refer to it as the “box”, we don’t know whether we should pray in it, to it, or for it. There will be 2-3 classes that will never get to see the chapel during their 4 years here. Don’t know how much of a role that played in the cadet experience before we got here, but for us it’s just an eye sore. Lots of my classmates are bummed about it, most of us have mixed feelings about it, nothing we can really do other than make fun of it.
 
asap.airman said:
We refer to it as the “box”, we don’t know whether we should pray in it, to it, or for it. There will be 2-3 classes that will never get to see the chapel during their 4 years here. Don’t know how much of a role that played in the cadet experience before we got here, but for us it’s just an eye sore. Lots of my classmates are bummed about it, most of us have mixed feelings about it, nothing we can really do other than make fun of it.
Click to expand...
My daughter is a 2018 grad. They had "the crane" all 4 years (repairs to the chapel). They made the best of that eye sore by writing verses. Ie: Lifts 12:1 And ye shall ...<don't remember, but you get the gist>

Anyway, the class incorporated the crane into their class crest. Why not? It was part of their experience!
 
SpiritCommitteeLiaison said:
My daughter is a 2018 grad. They had "the crane" all 4 years (repairs to the chapel). They made the best of that eye sore by writing verses. Ie: Lifts 12:1 And ye shall ...<don't remember, but you get the gist>

Anyway, the class incorporated the crane into their class crest. Why not? It was part of their experience!
Click to expand...
26 has the box as one of our options for a crest. The world with Colorado and then a smallllll box inside. Funny enough another crest option was the chapel, we kinda side eyed that one
 
Maybe someone knows how many class crests Incorporated the cadet chapel.

As the OP, if you read the first article I posted, the history and the planning that went around it was amazing. The entire country was following its development.
 
Stormbird said:
Maybe someone knows how many class crests Incorporated the cadet chapel.

As the OP, if you read the first article I posted, the history and the planning that went around it was amazing. The entire country was following its development.
Click to expand...
According to the Association of Graduates, each crest must contain the following USAFA symbols:
  • the Polaris Star
  • the class year
  • a saber
  • a falcon
  • the graduating class number
  • class motto
This link has a picture of each crest since 1975 : https://americanplaquecompany.com/product-category/class-crest/usafa/
 
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