The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel is part of a larger complex, known as the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Area. The academy was commissioned on April 1, 1954, when president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 325, providing for the establishment of the United States Air Force Academy as the primary undergraduate educational institution for the newly established Air Force. On July 23, 1954, the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) was awarded the academy commission. Following the award of the contract, SOM established a project team. Walter Netsch was the director of the design office and played the most important role in the commission by selecting the other team members and overseeing every aspect of the AcademyÕs design. Although he managed all of the design team, Netsch took primary personal responsibility for the Cadet Chapel, among two other structures on the site. Netsch began working on the Chapel in 1954. The initial model was a folded plate building set on a slightly higher terrace than the Court of Honor and had an east-west orientation. It drew intense criticism from many sources, including Colorado Governor Edwin Johnson, who declared, ÒThe paganistic distortion conceived by them as a place of religion is an insult to religion and ColoradoÓ (NPS designation report). After these brutal attacks, the Air Force and SOM withdrew these plans and promised revisions. Congress approved funds for initial construction in 1955, but required a separate appropriation for the chapel.Netsch spent several weeks in spring 1956 crossing Europe in search of a precedent for inspiration for the Cadet Chapel. He cited St. Francis of Assisi, La Sainte-Chapelle, and Chatres Cathedral as some of his inspirations. In terms of the overall form, Netsch claimed that the final design came to him through a doodle of a horizontal line, then a series of near-vertical connected lines. From this form, the idea of using tetrahedrons came to mind. He incorporated 100 four-sided structures of steel tubing to serve as the building blocks of a series of spires that would reach towards heaven, yet still flow logically from the design. \"By literally placing the tetrahedrons on top of one another," stated Netsch, "I made an enclosure that embodies the concept of light and space – and that is the dominant part of church architecture." (TIME The plan of the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish chapels being stacked on two levels responds to a design directive to create three distinct worship areas under a single roof and Netsch's desire not to create a "supermarket cathedral," or a single chapel that can change faith at will. Since Protestants were in the majority, they received the largest chapel, with the Catholic and Jewish chapels below. The revised design was met with a more enthusiastic response. However, Netsch's design would put the chapel project over budget by $1 million. They questioned the rationale for having nineteen spires when in the past one spire per church had been sufficient. In the end, Netsch re-worked the design to only include seventeen spires and the plan and $3 million budget were passed by Congress in 1957, allowing construction to finally begin. Netsch originally specified sheet-metal flashing to prevent rainwater from entering the interior of the structure, but the Air Force Academy Construction Agency deemed it too expensive and opted to utilize caulk instead. Despite this concession, the chapel was constructed true to Netsch's plan. Its completion and dedication on September 22, 1963 marked the end of the first phase of construction of the Air Force Academy.

Unknown date: Addition of rain gutter with downspouts at the middle of the A-frame, visually cutting the spires in half. Uknown date: Wire-glass storm sash placed over stained glass strip windows, which has greatly obscured their colorizing effect.

Whole Building: Place of worship, located on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy.Of Principal components: The upper-most level contains the Protestant nave. The Catholic and Jewish chapels and one all-faiths room are located beneath it. Below both levels is a larger all-faiths room and two meeting rooms.There are no known proposals that would affect the concept or functions of the building.

In the original design, Walter Netsch specified sheet-metal flashing to prevent rainwater from entering the interior, but the Air Force Academy Construction Agency deemed it too expensive and opted instead for caulk. There are 34 miles of caulk on the structure, but it does not hold. Strong winds that rock the chapel and shift the aluminum panels cause it to fail and thus leak, which it has been doing for most of its 45-year existence. On the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the US Air Force Academy Cadet Area's construction, SOM was approached to pursue a restoration design for the chapel that would fix various structural problems, such as water infiltration, deteriorated components, as well as restore the chapel to its original form by removing any added elements that have negatively impacted the aesthetics. The firm's restoration philosophy was to employ state of the art systems and materials to preserve the profiles and original design intents. A complete investigation was conducted to analyze the problem areas, which included removing the chapel's aluminum exterior cladding. The firm recommended disassembling the aluminum panels and sealing the interior spaces with a silicone membrane. Doing so would stop the leakage and allow for the removal of the chapel's wire-sash storm glass that was placed over the stained glass strip windows in an attempt to keep water out. They would also be able to remove the rain gutters and downspouts that were added to the middle of the A-frame. The plan would cost over $30 million, which the Academy could not justify spending on a single building when others on the property are also in need of repair. Instead, they opt to spend anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 each year to recaulk the chapel. Despite this preventative measure, the building still leaks during rainstorms, causing damage to pews, the organ, and Bibles. Additionally, the creaking sounds from powerful winds outside distract worshipers. It has been recaulked so many times that the anodized aluminum surface has become scratched, pitted, and stained.

and is 84'-0" wide from hinge to hinge. The south-facing front façade has a wide granite stairway with steel railings capped by aluminum handrails and leads up to a one story landing. At the landing is a band of gold anodized aluminum doors. Above the doors is a glass wall. The triangular north façade consists of a glass curtain wall in an aluminum frame.As previously mentioned

the structure contains three chapels of different denominations. The Protestant Chapel is on the main floor and is reached by exterior ascending stairs. It is designed to seat 900 cadets. Upon entering the doors

one walks through a wood-paneled narthex into the nave. This space measures 64'-0" x 168'-0" reaches 94 feet to the highest peak. The colored glass strips are comprised of twenty-four hues. The colors range in tone from violet at the narthex through red and blue to gold and the altar. Each gable end is glazed with amber glass. Above the narthex

at the rear of the chapel

is a choir balcony and organ. Both were constructed by M.P. Moller Compay of Hagerstown

MD. Harold E. Wagoner designed the liturgical furnishings for the Protestant and Catholic chapels.The Catholic Chapel is located beneath the Protestant chapel and its nave consists of an essentially horizontal space that is 63'-0" wide by 113'-0" long and 19'-0" high | https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/co/USAFA.pdf