Arnold Hall renovations bring student center into 21st Century

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY --  A $1.49 million project to renovate several interior spaces of Arnold Hall is scheduled to be completed early next year, said officials at the Air Force Academy August 25. 

The multi-phase project was paid for by a combination of appropriated and non-appropriated funds, to modernize the Academy's student center.

This is the first major renovation for the facility since its doors opened in 1959, said the Arnold Hall facility manager, Debbie Southee.

"The goal of the renovation is to give the Air Force Academy's next generation of cadets a place they and their relatives can be proud of," she said. "Most of the work has been renovating Richter Lounge, moving the information desk to a central location and renovating and moving the Cadet Entertainment Office to the facility's administrative area. "The previous Cadet Entertainment office will be used as a conference room and art gallery." 

Southee said half of Richter Lounge is scheduled to open August 29 and the entire lounge is scheduled to open in November. The conference room and art gallery will open in February, she said. 

New features planned for Arnold Hall
· A larger cadet area
· Large screen TVs in Richter Lounge
· A stage for musical entertainment on Friday evenings for freshmen cadets (upper classmen use Hap's Lounge)
· A central information desk staffed by 10th Force Support Squadron employees and cadets.

(Editor's note: Gift funds from the Air Force Academy Endowment have funded a display board for the information counter.)