The visitors center is one of four projects approved by the Colorado Economic Development Commission in 2013 for state tax-increment financing as part of the City for Champions vision. To qualify, proposals for projects had to prove they would grow the tax base and bring significant out-of-state tourism money into Colorado.

To qualify for state tax rebates, the project must be within the city limits of Colorado Springs. City officials, the Air Force and project developers have worked on annexation and other legal details for years.

Project developer and Air Force Academy graduate Dan Schnepf, president and CEO of Matrix Design Group, envisions the visitors center as a wow-factor gateway that lets southbound travelers on I-25 know they are entering the grand hometown of the Air Force Academy.

“You come down I-25 and you hit Monument,” Schnepf said. “You see a bunch of things and you kind of wonder where you are. You start to see some development, but there’s no big wow. There’s no sizzle. Where is this, you wonder? This project provides a great opportunity for that to change.”

The development would do something else. It would connect one of America’s greatest institutions of higher education more directly with residents and visitors of Colorado Springs.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, security has tightened at the academy and most other federal facilities. When threat risks are high, getting into the academy can be an ordeal. Due to no fault of anyone but foreign terrorists, the community has felt almost walled off from the academy it loves.

“This project brings the front door of the academy to the public,” Schnepf explains, excited to see more interaction between his hometown and alma mater.