Cadet Gymnasium

From USAFA Folklore

The Cadet Gymnasium is used for cadet physical education, intramural and intercollegiate sports. The five-level facility includes:

[edit] Architecture

(adapted from USAFA's National Historic Landmark application)

The building is located on the lowest level of the Cadet Area, north of Vandenberg Hall. It is rectangular with a flat clean roofline, with a structural frame covered by asphalt roofing. Welded trusses spaced 28 feet and spanning 112 feet support the roof. Steel purlins spaced seven feet center to center span between trusses and carry a precast, lightweight concrete deck. The initial drawings showed the gymnasium as a glass wall building, but the design was later modified. The exterior is faced with white marble and aluminum panels with a central curtain wall section of anodized aluminum framed sliding windows over porcelain panels. There are two primary entrances on the south elevation with glass doors. This primary entrance is at ground level, with two levels below that. However, since the site slopes down to the north, the lower levels are above grade on the north end of the building.

The finishes of the interior of the building demonstrate the more utilitarian nature of the facility, distinct from most other Cadet Area buildings. In hallways--and anywhere where specialized finishes are not required--the floors are polished concrete, and walls are made of approximately 12 x 4” glazed white tiles that display a subtle flecked pattern. Floating ceilings are covered with acoustic tile.

At the ground level, the building is 534 x 226 ft. That level houses three large basketball/volleyball areas with four courts in each, a boxing area, gymnastic area, and bleachers for the swimming pool. Below ground level, the building measures 534 x 282 feet. It provides space for both a larger and a smaller swimming pool, wrestling room, handball and squash courts, pistol and rifle ranges, lockers, showers and storage.

During the expansion program of the mid-sixties, an addition to the east end of the Physical Education Building increased locker rooms, shower facilities, handball courts, and teaching stations. The addition followed the design vocabulary of the original building; none of the changes detract from the architectural integrity of the building.

[edit] Facilities

• Three basketball gyms which contain 10 practice and three regulation-size courts
• Four indoor tennis courts with indirect lighting and permanent seating for 380 spectators
• An Olympic-size swimming pool with one- and three-meter boards, five- and 10-meter platforms and permanent seating for 1,200 spectators
• A water polo pool measuring 60 feet by 125 feet by seven feet deep
• Three squash and 19 racquetball/handball courts
• Two weight-training rooms, each 10,000 square feet or more, with state-of-the-art equipment and one with a 30-yard AstroTurf track
• The East gym is home to the Women's Volleyball program with seating for 1,000 spectators
• The West gym houses the Fencing and Gymnastics programs
• One 3,325 square foot training room and a Human Performance Laboratory complete with hydrostatic weighing equipment, sports psychology and vision testing capabilities, and aerobic testing equipment