Evening star., 1955-07-24
BY RICHARD FRYKLUND
star stan Correspondent

by M1C6AhD EHxALUNU
star stan Correspondent
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-It
is natural for Air Force men who
pioneered the age Of flight and the
atomic age to look into the future
when asked to design what win
become q monument to themselves.
That is why the new Air Force
Academy here will be an entirely
new concept in universities. And
that is why Congress Is making 1t
hard for the Air Force to get what
1t wants.
There actually are two innova-
tions the Air Force wants to work
into its academy. One is In curric-
ulum; the other is in architecture.
Congress is willing to let the Air
Force pioneer in book-learning but
is dragging its feet on architecture.
Two weeks ago the House in ef-
feet directed the Air Force to halt
work on its academy until a more
acceptable design could be worked
up. A Senate committee studied
modified design last week and
was little more pleased than the
House. The committee did vote
to approve the project, however. on
the theory that a years delay would
be harmful to the academy. This
theory still must be sold to the full
Senate and then the House.
Why the Ruckus?
Here in Colorado Springs, Air
Force personnel and the average
citizen can't quite see what all the
ruckus is about. They hope that
the Houses action was just q bit
Of midsummer madness that will
go away when adjournment time is
imminent.
Congressmen are finding 1t hard.
however, to swallow the modern
design the Air Force wants.
Representative George H. Mahon,
Democrat of Texas, who spoke for
the Appropriations Committee dur
ing debate, said the proposed
buildings would appear to be an
appropriate edifice for a modern
factory or something of that kind"
The chapel, he said, seems to
look like tent Of Sorts"
When the folks in Colorado
Springs read statements such as
these and heard that some Con-
gressmen even suggested starting
again from scratch. on a new site,
they pushed, as the Air Force would
say, the panic button. Many Colo
radoans thought the State would
lose the air academy. They re-
acted as persons who had great
pride in the proposed project-and
who had invested considerable
sums of money in preparing for 1t.
Actually there was no real dam
ger that the Colorado Springs prof.
ect would be abandoned, The law
makers liked the site and didn't
mind the curriculum innovations
which will make the social sciences
and humanities equally important
with the physical and natural sci
ences. They just couldn't take the
proposed buildings.
Inspiring Site
It Is easy to see when one travels
to Colorado Springs why the Air
Force picked the site 1t did. To
the west the rising Rampant Range
will carry the future airmen's eyes
high into the sky they will one day
fight in; and in the other directions
the cadets will look out over the
land they will be preparing to de-
fend.
The academy area itself is roll
ing and generously wooded with
pine. It's actually foothill coun-
try. Deer wander in groups
through what some day will be
parade grounds and academic areas.
Wild flowers this time Of year
brighten the slopes with splashes of
color.
The main cadet area will be on a
long mesa that will require little
grading before construction starts.
A series of valleys and ridges run
ming out from the mesa will mark
off two housing areas. a maneuver
area, golf course, a community
center and q small air field.
Crowding will never be a prob
lem in the 17,500-acre site.
Given the handsome site and
keeping in mind the ideals and
traditions Of the Air Force, the
civilian planners of the academy
tried to work out an architectural
scheme which would connote the
air age and reflect the grandeur
of the Rocky Mountains.
Did They Succeed?
The big question is whether they
succeeded.
The planners, team Of some of
the Nations best known architects
and engineers. decided first of all
to work largely with glass, stainless
steel and aluminum--the construc-
tion materials Of the goth century.
Those materials not only are clean
and durable, but also relatively in
expensive. More traditional--and
more costly--materials like native
stone and marble were to be used
only for accent. The buildings
were to be wide and low, as there
was no use competing for height
With the Colorado mountains.
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