• Outside Entrance
• Souteastern Entrance
• Main Entrance
• Contact Design Subcommittee

Friends, 

     As you know, our class agreed to be responsible for significant upgrades to the reconstructed Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center. The major parts of our upgrades include Terrazzo flooring in the main entrance and hallway, enhanced stairs and rails, and improvements to entrances on the first (southeast) and fourth floors.  In exchange for our providing the funds for these upgrades, the Military Academy agreed to a "high-profile recognition of the class" in the entrance to the Arvin Center.  Last year Fred Laughlin formed two subcommittees, one to focus on funding and the other to focus on designing the entrance.
 

• The design subcommittee - consisting of myself, Ross Wollen, Ed Knauf, Joe Sanchez, John Howell, Terry Ryan, Nate Kantor, and Chuck Moseley - has worked the past year to coordinate with USMA on the design and construction of the entrance to the Arvin Center, including the theme, specific features, design and configuration, and schedule for construction.

• We have met several times at West Point and analyzed alternatives, and in our most recent discussions, we agreed on the general outline of our design. We now seek your comments and input on that general design.  After we incorporate your suggestions, we will go to the USMA Museum, Historical, and Memorialization (MHM) Committee and then the Superintendent for approval of our general concept.

• At a later date we will ask for your comments and input on the detailed aspects of the design, including words on plaques.  Please do not become overly concerned at this point about exact wording of a particular plaque, but tell us what you think about the main messages of the plaques and their placement.

• After we have incorporated your suggestions and have completed the final design, we will again go to the MHM Committee and the Superintendent, this time for final approval.

     The inside entrance pictures pictures display a floor plan of the main entryway to the Arvin Center and the location of proposed plaques; this same attachment includes an artist's rendering of the inside entryway.  This entryway is the same one all of us have entered at the north end of the gymnasium. It took us to the Weapons Room and the theater. If the cadet in the rendering continued straight ahead, he would go down the stairs to the basement; you probably can see in the rendering only a suggestion of those stairs. If the cadet turned and went left or right of those stairs, he would walk toward a bank of windows (new) overlooking a swimming pool (also new). In front of that pool is a large hallway that runs from right to left (north
to south) through the center of the gymnasium.

     As for the main entryway, note that we propose placing the slogan "Strength and Drive" on one archway and "Class of 1965" on the other.  Above the front left pillar we suggest placing the 1965 crest and above the right the USMA crest. In the rendering, the two crests on the pillars are colored, but I suspect the final ones will be bronze.  A Class crest also is placed in the floor to the left of the pillars and another to the right (you cannot see this one).   All Class crests in the floor will be colored.

     As for plaques on the pillars, the subcommittee believes we should use the front two pillars for memorialization and the two rear pillars for sports-related plaques.  The subcommittee also believes we should include memorial items for the Class in the alcove to the right of the pillars.

     On the front pillar on the left, under the Class crest, we propose installing a plaque honoring Bob Arvin. It is being written at this time and may include an extract from the citation from one of his Silver Stars. Please recall that we mounted a small plaque honoring Bob on the entryway to the Center when we as a class participated in the ceremony naming the gymnasium after him. 

     On the front pillar on the right, under the USMA crest, we propose installing a plaque that lists the names of our classmates who died in the service of our country.  In our discussions the committee envisaged listing classmates who were killed in the Vietnam conflict as well as others such as Marv Jeffcoat. We believe we should place a small helmet of Athena beside the name of each classmate who fell in Vietnam/combat.  Please check the list at the narrative to ensure we have omitted no one who should be listed. Also, tell us what you think about our proposal to make the list more personal and include our classmates' nicknames instead of their formal
names.

     On the rear pillar on the left, we propose placing a plaque that includes an extract from a telegram Dwight D. Eisenhower sent our class just prior to the Army-Navy game our First Class year.  The subcommittee believes Eisenhower's words will inspire many cadets in future years, just as they inspired us in 1964.

     On the rear pillar on the right, we propose installing a plaque that has a list of athletic-team records during our First Class year. We believe we should indicate whether the team beat Navy (or RMC).  Many of you may have forgotten or not realized that as First Class cadets we did extremely well against Navy and against all other opponents. 

     To the right of the pillars, there is a small alcove in which we can place memorial items or items related to the Class. We have not yet decided what will be in the alcove but we have agreed the Dedication document signed by Ric Shinseki, Dan Christman, and Fred Laughlin in June 2001 should be included.  For those of you who may have missed Dan's retirement, we used that occasion to Dedicate the Class gift and (thanks to Ross Wollen) for Ric, Dan, and Fred to sign a declaration about the gift.   The subcommittee has agreed that we probably will include a collage of photographs from various intramural, club, and varsity sports. We have made no decisions but thought placing benches along two walls may be appropriate.

     As for other areas in the Center, we agreed to place a colored Class crest in the floor of the primary cadet entryway, which is the southeastern entryway (near the Lost '50s), and another colored Class crest in the fourth floor entryway (new -- coming off the street running from the Cadet Chapel past the back of the Center). This will result in a Class crest being in the floor of each entryway into the Arvin Center:  two in the main, one in the southeastern, and one in the fourth floor entryway. The size of the four crests in the floor will depend on the space available.  We agreed that a small brass plaque should be placed somewhere in the southeastern and fourth floor entryways; this brass plaque would say something about "Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center" and "Class of 1965."  Placing the two crests in these entryways will highlight the Class and ensure cadets/graduates in the future know who contributed the Terrazzo flooring, etc.

     Rest assured we intend to stay within our budget, and that current estimates and formal bids put us clearly within our budget. The largest cost item is the Terrazzo flooring, which will add substantially to the appearance of the Center; other items cost considerably less. If unexpected costs appear (and they should not!), we have some acceptable options that will keep us within our budget. Those options include not putting Terrazzo flooring in parts of the Center and eliminating a few other items. Also note that all the items you see in the rendering--except for the four Class crests in the floor--will be separate from the overall bid for Arvin Center and will be accomplished through a local contractor. I talked recently to Mr. Dou Logan, whose firm has manufactured and installed most of the plaques at West Point. He will give us a bid for the memorial items after we have completely finished their design. That should reduce our costs, but please recognize the plaques and other memorial items will be only a small part of the total cost.

     As your committee continues to work on the design for the Arvin Center entrance, we welcome your thoughts and suggestions for improving the proposed design. We ask that you not become overly concerned about details at this point and that you focus your comments only on general aspects of the design.  Our goal is to have your comments and suggestions by the end of August, so we can gain approval from the Military Academy and then begin work on the details of the final design.  Please send your comments to me or to any other member of the committee. 

My e-mail address is: RDoughtyWP@aol.com  or Robert.Doughty@usma.edu

     My mailing address is:
                Colonel Robert A. Doughty
                Department of History, USMA
                West Point, New York 10996 
 

                                                                Bob Doughty