New signs for AFA's "Historic District"

Going north on I-25 just before the North Academy exit, I noticed a brown sign on the side of the road that reads “Air Force Academy Historic District.” What is the story behind that sign
- Kathie Murrow

ANSWER: On April 1, 2004, the cadet area of the Air Force Academy, where the cadets live and train and including the chapel, was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark. The designation was commemorated with a stone monument at the Honor Court outside Arnold Hall. If a part of a facility is designated, the remainder is eligible for the same designation, according to AFA director of communications Johnny Whitaker.

Districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects are awarded National Register designation if they have significance in history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture. It is administered by the National Park Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Earlier, the AFA superintendent’s house had been placed on the National Register. The exterior of the house can never be changed, according to AFA historian Betsy Muenger.

Whitaker said the signs on Interstate 25, which went up in May, had been requested to show travelers when they are passing through the academy, which runs on the west from a half mile south of Baptist Road on the north to an area south of the South Entrance, between Woodmen Road and Academy Boulevard.