MAKING HISTORY: US AIR FORCE CADET CHAPEL, Colorado

An A. Zahner Co. and Local 9 partnership brings expertise and a can-do attitude to a historic US Air Force Academy project

By Robin Brunet

When Robert Zahner, senior vice president at A. Zahner Co., discusses his upcoming retirement from the Kansas Citybased architectural sheet metal company, he cites the Cadet Chapel restoration at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado as his swan song—both because of the project’s major undertaking and because of the collaboration it fostered between A. Zahner Co., Local 9, and the International Training Insitute (ITI).

“SMACNA Colorado’s Nathan Cooper was instrumental in establishing the initial relationship with Local 9, and he has continued to shepherd the process,” Zahner says.

The collaboration began with ITI member Dan McCallum and Local 9 Business Manager Dwayne Stephens. Today, it continues with Stephens’ successor Jon Alvino, as well as Chris Caricato, who was training director for Local 206 in San Diego before joining ITI.

Alvino is enthused about the collaboration. “Our 1,000-plus active members and colleagues in the sector have a real cando spirit, and we have enormous respect for the achievements of Zahner’s company over its 120-year history,” he says. “Normally, our members work in the residential HVAC field, so given that the chapel restoration is a unique architectural sheet metal job, it made sense to pool our resources.”

The aluminum, glass, and steel Cadet Chapel features 17 spires that shoot 150 feet into the sky. It is the most visited human-made tourist attraction in Colorado and is considered among the most beautiful examples of modern American academic architecture.

Although architect Walter Netsch Jr. designed an elaborate gutter system to divert rainwater from the structure, during construction in the 1960s, budgetary restrictions meant that caulking was used instead to seal the chapel’s interlocking exterior aluminum panels. From the time it opened, the chapel leaked, resulting in six decades of extensive water damage. The restoration in 2022 encompassed removing the aluminum panels and more than 20,000 Dalle de Verre stained glass units, plus work inside the chapel, including removal and restoration of the pews and two church organs.

McCallum first approached Zahner about the project four years ago. “Our relationship with ITI goes back to the days when it was called the National Training Fund,” Zahner says. “In reviewing what was required for the project, we realized we needed the organization’s buy-in for this to be a success.”

The logistics were especially intimidating given the circumstances of sheet metal work in Colorado. “The Cadet Chapel restoration would require a crew with specific skills,” Zahner says. “The workforce needed to be adept at working at great heights, using significant rigging and exercising accompanying safety skills, for starters.”

In fact, the architecture of the chapel is such that even a special 185-foot lift rented for the job wouldn’t be able to get workers into some corners to remove panels—this required complex rigging and bosun chairs. “We also needed to accurately locate each of the chapel’s 7,000 anchors to facilitate the reinstallation of the panels, the largest of which is a 12-foot x 12-foot trapezoid,” Zahner says.

The team solved the latter problem with software and hardware that precisely located the anchors via a laser system. Zahner and McCallum held a series of meetings with Local 9 in hopes enough people could be properly trained for the project. “Ultimately, we knew we needed about 30 workers, and we required a program to get them properly trained,” Zahner says. “I was surprised by how amendable the Local was to our proposition, considering the dearth of architectural sheet metal jobs in the state.”

Alvino says the enthusiasm of his organization was understandable. “Members from across the southern territory clamoured to be part of the restoration because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime project,” he says. “Our members would love nothing better than to drive past the facility years from now and tell their kids they were part of the restoration team.”

“Members from across the southern territory clamoured to be part of the restoration because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime project... [they] would love nothing better than to drive past the facility years from now and tell their kids they were part of the restoration team. ”—Jon Alvino, Local 9 business manager

Local 9 wanted to recruit apprentices for the job and Zahner was enthusiastic about the prospect. “He thought it was a great idea because, in addition to the chapel restoration being a great experience, it would prepare the apprentices for the architectural sheet metal work that we intend to pursue in the future,” Alvino says.

ITI quickly got the ball rolling. A fundamental aspect of training was a simulator that would give Local 9 candidates a virtual experience of operating hundreds of feet in the air. “We have two such simulators,” says Caricato, who is now the ITI’s architectural sheet metal specialist and field representative. “We transported one of them in a container from Las Vegas to Local 9’s headquarters in Colorado Springs.”

That simulator was augmented by a 30-foot training tower constructed by A. Zahner Co.

“We also began developing a job orientation program to make available to all Local 9 members,” Caricato says. “We’re confident that certain parts of the training will be incorporated as part of Local 9’s curriculum after the Chapel renewal is completed.”

Restoration work began in 2019 with a temporary enclosure erected around the entire building, but as the general contractor’s crews removed some of the cladding, it was determined that additional asbestos contamination would push the project past its original 2023 completion date. “Our best guess is that the restoration will be completed in 2025,” Zahner says.

The delay has given ITI and Local 9 time to ensure that the training process—which encompasses everything from hoisting and rigging to signalling and fall prevention—will be best in class. “We’ll begin hiring towards the end of this year, starting with leadership positions and following through with sheet metal workers,” Alvino says. “They’ll work in dual shifts when restoration commences in February or March, with staging conducted during the swing shift.”

The Cadet Chapel restoration will be remembered within sheet metal circles for decades to come. Zahner regards it as ending his long career on a high note. Caricato echoes Zahner and Alvino: “The collaboration between us and Local 9 is as special as the restoration itself,” he says. “In order for signatory contractors like Zahner to continue to be successful, a specifically trained workforce is required. Local 9 really stepped up to the plate, and we’re proud to assist in providing that training.” ▪

Robin Brunet’s journalism has been published in over 150 magazines, newspapers, websites, and other media across Canada and the United States since 1982. He is also the best-selling author of two books: Red Robinson: The Last Deejay and Let’s Get Frank, as well as the upcoming The Last Broadcast.