By L. Todd Wood, USAFA ’86 | Armed Forces Press
The saga of the renovation of the U.S. Air Force Academy chapel is a long one. Years behind schedule and over budget, classes currently graduating have not even been able to use the facility, a staple of Air Force cadet life from the beginning of USAFA’s existence.
As a 1986 graduate, I can say the chapel was a welcomed respite from the rigors of cadet life.
President Trump today entered the debate on the renovation, calling out the bad management on a post on his Truth Social account.
The Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel restoration project is getting more expensive with yet another delay, now targeting November 2028 as the completion date, writes KOAA.
Last month, the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded another $88 million contract to construction firm J.E. Dunn for chapel restoration work, which bumped the estimated total cost up 36% from $247 million to $335 million.
The ballooning price is approaching almost half of what was spent to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a 2019 fire, but that project was completed in about half the time.
The cadet chapel closed its doors in October 2019 as the intensive restoration process began, which was initially expected to cost about $158 million. Since then, the project has been delayed for years with rising costs attributed to an extensive discovery of asbestos.
_
L Todd Wood, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, flew special operations helicopters supporting SEAL Team 6, Delta Force and others. After leaving the military, he pursued his other passion, finance, spending 18 years on Wall Street trading emerging market debt and was a national security columnist for The Washington Times. He is also founder/publisher of CDM. For more information about L. Todd Wood, visit LToddWood.com.
First published in Armed Forces Press
Trump: Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel ‘construction disaster’
By Filip Timotija | The Hill
President Trump railed against the increasing renovation cost of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel project in Colorado, now ballooning to north of $300 million, and called for an investigation into the “mess.”
The Cadet Chapel restoration, which started in 2019, is rising in cost and is now expected to be completed in November 2028, prompting a rebuke from the president Thursday night.
“The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel has been a CONSTRUCTION DISASTER from the time it was built in 1962. The earlier stories are that it leaked on Day One, and that was the good part. Hundreds of Millions of Dollars have been spent,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“The renovation, which essentially has been going on since the day it was built, is now projected to go on until 2028, costing an additional $90 Million Dollars, bringing the grand total to $335 Million Dollars,” the president said. “This mess should be investigated. Very unfair to the Cadets — A COMPLETE ARCHITECTURAL CATASTROPHE!”
In August, the Department of Defense awarded JE Dunn Construction Co. a contract worth slightly more than $88 million for renovation work of the chapel, bolstering the total cost from $247 million to almost $335 million.
The Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC), which oversees the project, told KOAA News5 in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month that the new contract was needed to “address unforeseen structural discrepancies and design conflicts discovered during the restoration process.”
The AFCEC added that the funding ensures the “long-term structural integrity and watertightness of the Cadet Chapel and will resolve issues that have plagued the building since its opening 60 years ago.”
The renovation work done at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is expected to be completed by Nov. 13, 2028, according to the Pentagon.
The chapel, standing 150 feet tall, first opened in 1962 and was built to “meet the spiritual needs of cadets and staff.”
“It contains a separate chapel for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist faiths, and two all-faiths’ worship rooms,” according to the Air Force Academy. “There are two main levels, with the Protestant nave on the upper level. Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist services take place beneath it.”
Charlie Kirk Asks Tough Questions at U.S. Air Force Academy Oversight Meeting
…. Kirk continued his questioning by turning his focus on the ongoing renovation of the historic Air Force Academy Chapel. Built in 1959, the beautiful structure only took 3 years to construct.
Yet, a remodel project that began in 2019 isn’t projected to be complete until 2028.
Kirk said he met with cadets who expressed disappointment that in 4 years at the Academy they will not have been able to step foot in or worship at the chapel.
He demanded a checklist of roadblocks from the Superintendent preventing the project from completion. Kirk asserted that the board could help make it happen.
The superintendent said he would be happy to “swarm the project” to get it done sooner with the support of the board……
Leave a Comment