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Home -> Reviews of Churches We've Visited -> United States Air Force Academy - Cadet Chapel - Colorado Springs, CO

USAF Cadet Chapel, Colorado Springs, CO

by Blake Engel, All Church Sound

During a recent trip out West, I had the opportunity to stop by the Cadet Chapel of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to the brochure I picked up, the structure was built in 4 years after 5 years of planning. Construction was completed in the Summer of 1963. Within this one building is a Protestant Chapel, a Catholic Chapel, and a Jewish Chapel. In addition, an All Faiths room was included - and a second, larger one was added in 1999. The building is over 150 feet tall.

Additional information can be found below as well as at the United States Air Force Academy website.

The Protestant Chapel seats 1200 and has a choir loft for 120. Over 24,000 pieces of glass in 24 different shades were used with darker colors at the rear and lighter ones at the front. The pews are American walnut and African mahogany - sculpted so the ends resemble early laminated propellers. The altar is a 15-foot marble slab in the shape of a ship. The 46-foot cross hung above is aluminum - and blends into the background quite easily, almost disappearing. The pipe organ has 83 ranks, 67 stops, and 4,334 pipes.

The Catholic Chapel is quite impressive as well. Located directly below the Protestant Chapel, it seats 500 with a choir loft for 80. Down the sides are 4-inch thick marble slabs about 4-feet tall and 3-feet wide. Into these slabs has been carved the Stations of the Cross - providing not only beauty and a reminder, but acoustical diffusion... (Images below of the Stations of the Cross were scanned from the brochure I picked up at the Chapel.)

Finally, the Jewish Chapel which seats 100, is round in shape. According to the brochure, "The rounded shape suggests no only the global mission of the Air Force, but also the strict monotheism of the Jewish religion." What's interesting, however, is that while the walls are constructed with upright pieces of glass, they're set at different depths - such that the wall is not a smooth surface overall. The panes are about 5-inches wide and differ in their set depths by about 5-inches as well.