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Construction on a new esports gaming facility is ongoing in Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center, along with other building renovations on campus heading into the 2023-2024 academic year.

The esports venue is being built where a portion of the SU campus bookstore was previously housed. The preliminary design began at the end of 2022 and preparations for construction began this summer, according to a university spokesperson.

SU is also progressing on construction projects in Link Hall, the Miron Victory Court and North Campus residence halls.

Jeff Rubin, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud’s special advisor on esports and digital transformation, said the university aims to open the venue at full operation by the 2024-2025 academic year.

The esports communications and management major, a joint program between the Falk College of Human Sport and Dynamics and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, will begin enrolling students in fall 2024. The degree program consists of three tracks: esports business and management, esports communications and esports media and design.

“We know that it’s something that the students desire, and we want it to be a focal point on campus, in a central place on campus,” Rubin said. “I’m not sure there’s a better place to do that than Schine.”

The incoming 5,600-square-foot esports facility will include at least 35 gaming consoles and a 10-person stage for competitions, Rubin said.

Rubin said the Barnes Center at The Arch, which currently operates the university’s only on-campus esports facility, recorded over 10,000 entrance swipes during the 2022-2023 academic year. The new Schine facility shows the university’s commitment to esports and the strong interest students have in the industry, he said.

“We knew that we needed more than one space… imagine having just one basketball court, or one of something else that students love to do,” Rubin said. “So we needed to expand, and I think (for) this to be in Schine is incredible.”

As part of its investment into esports, Rubin said the university plans to engage in competitive esports, including a varsity-level team that will travel to other locations as well as host other teams on campus.

On August 2, SU named Joey Gawrysiak as executive director of the university’s new esports communications and management degree program. Rubin said Gawrysiak is coming to make SU “a competitor at the highest level” in esports and will oversee initiatives like growing recreational and competitive esports.

In addition to the esports construction, SU is furthering efforts to finish renovations for Link Hall, which houses the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Pete Sala, SU’s vice president, chief campus facilities officer and managing director of the JMA Wireless Dome, labeled the multi-year, multi-phase construction process in Link Hall as the “largest renovation” the university has embarked on in an occupied building. The renovation addressed accessibility in Link Hall by renovating its two entrances, removing the stairs formerly outside the building and adding snow melt equipment underneath nearby sidewalks.

Renovations to Link Hall stem from a $2.28 billion investment from alumni Bill Allyn and his wife Penny to “augment the student experience” for engineering and computer science students, according to a 2018 SU News release.

Sala said SU also hopes to expand Link Hall closer to the Shaw Quadrangle to allow greater visibility of the first floor, where previous renovation efforts created a collaborative workspace for students to gather and have a sense of belonging.

“It’s inviting, and allows you to see students working together on projects and a place for students to gather and get work done together,” Sala said.

Other upcoming construction projects over the next year include the continuation of converting all communal restrooms in North Campus residential halls to single-pods. The university installed 36 single-user restrooms in Watson Hall this summer and hopes to add 38 additional single-use pods to the dorm next summer, Sala said.

SU will also continue construction on the Miron Victory Court, a facility which will connect the JMA Wireless Dome to the Barnes Center, which Sala hopes will be open sometime in fall 2024.

As the school year begins, Sala said students can expect to continue regular use of Link Hall while renovations near completion.

“(Link) has basically all new life to it… and it’s going to be a beautiful facility once we come out of it,” he said.

Published on August 23, 2023 at 8:04 pm

Contact Dominic: dcchiapp@syr.edu | @DominicChiappo2