The Air Force Academy’s new visitor center and adjacent campus are finally getting back on track, about 20 months after the coronavirus derailed bond sales for the project.
About $ 320 million in bonds for the project hit the market earlier this month and they are expected to be sold by Nov. 10, said Bob Cope, head of economic development for Colorado Springs. Once the funding is in place this fall, teams can begin evaluating the property and installing infrastructure outside the north academy gate near Interstate 25. Buildings are expected to start going up in April. and May, said Dan Schnepf, president of Blue & Silver Development. The partners.
The new visitor center, designed to resemble a wing in flight, will replace the existing building from the 1980s, serve as Colorado’s official visitor center, and feature interactive exhibits. The modern design of the building was chosen as the perfect representation of the Air Academy and the Air Force, said Carlos Cruz-Gonzalez, director of logistics, engineering and force protection at the academy. .
“The shape of the building really sums up what Air Force Academy is.… We call it ‘the soaring roof’,” said Cruz-Gonzalez.
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The visitor center and infrastructure are expected to require around $ 86 million in bonds and the accompanying new hotel and conference center is expected to require around $ 233 million, Schnepf said. The cost is up from around $ 285 million worth of bonds needed when they are scheduled to sell in March 2020, when the bond market collapsed. The increase is a function of inflation and other pressures on the development industry.
Bond sales have been pushed back a few times, in part because it took time to finalize the complex bond documentation and for the hospitality and bond markets to stabilize, Cope said.
The delay also put the projects on a tight development schedule. The center is expected to be built by June 16, 2023 so that the academy can start working on exhibits and the center can open on time in December 2023, Schnepf said. He is convinced that the crews can meet the deadlines.
The central and adjacent 36-acre development, known as True North Commons, is the largest of five City for Champions projects funded, in part, by state sales taxes – and the last to start. Other City for Champions projects include the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum, Weidner Field and Robson Area, all also aimed at boosting tourism.
The new visitor center could attract around 800,000 tourists a year, helping to restore the center’s popularity as a destination, Cope said previously.
At one point, the visitor center saw more people than any other man-made tourist spot in the state – but that trend has diminished due to new rules for entering academy properties instituted after 9/11. , did he declare.
For years, academy boosters and some superintendents have sought to move the attraction outside the gates, a step that could keep the attraction open even when the military facility has to be closed.
The center attracted 304,777 people in 2019, Air Force Academy spokesman Dean Miller said. From March 2020 to August 2021, the academy was completely closed to civilian visitors due to the pandemic, Cruz-Gonzalez said.
Schnepf is convinced that the 375 center and hotel can attract crowds of visitors and fill the new accommodation, which is essential as the hotel and conference center should be one of the main drivers of revenue to repay the costs. obligations. The hotel is non-profit, so anything that would normally be counted as profit can pay off its obligations, he said.
The hotel will compete with many new accommodation options in the city, but it will stand out for its quality – competing with destination hotels like the Broadmoor – and it will be able to serve those attending events at the academy. , such as weddings, weekend parents and soccer games, he said.
The academy’s student body is around 4,000 cadets and on parent weekends the school can accommodate 8,000 to 10,000 people, said Cruz-Gonzalez.
The hotel and conference center are scheduled to open in May 2024 and will be followed by the development of surrounding businesses and offices. The campus will include a gas station, restaurants, retailers and a new location in the Pikes Peak library district, Schnepf said.
Cybersecurity and other Department of Defense contractors are expected to move into the new office space and could potentially provide educational opportunities for cadets.
The entire campus is expected to directly employ 900 people, including office workers, and indirectly provide jobs for 260 others through contracts and jobs created through employee spending, Cope said previously.
The entire complex could be finished by 2026, Schnepf said.
The newly developed land will be controlled by Blue & Silver Development Partners, who have a 50-year lease with the academy for the area and will sublet it to others, he said.