By November, signs of the new Carrier Dome roof will be visible for the first time.

The first steel trusses that will make up the new roof will be going up in the coming weeks, Syracuse University Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala said on Monday. 

Construction crews on the ground are readying plans to move the steel trusses, which Sala said are up to 80 to 90 feet long, into the area where the two cranes can begin to place them above the current roof. 

The construction team is currently building a third steel pad near the Barnes Center at the Arch and Carrier Dome Gates G, H and F that will hold materials for the cranes. The truss for the roof is still expected to be completed in January, with the final roof renovations planned for March. The day-to-day plans are currently operating “on schedule,” Sala said. 

“We’re very happy with where we are,” Sala said. “The next phase, hopefully within the next week or two, you’re going to start seeing the crown-truss show up. Those should start coming here in the middle of next week.”

Sala said that fans headed to the Carrier Dome for Syracuse’s upcoming home football game against Pittsburgh on Friday or basketball’s preseason scrimmages shouldn’t have any noticeable difference entering or exiting the Dome as the construction progresses. 

As winter nears in central New York, Sala said one of his primary concerns is inevitably having to clear snow off the current roof. While the new trusses are designed to withstand snow and won’t need to be cleared manually in the future, there’s still one more winter to go with the old roof.

Crews are currently working six-day weeks, Sala said, and have prepared built-in winter days for the upcoming harsher weather conditions. 

“It’s going to be challenging because we’ve removed some things up there that we typically have in place to help combat the snow in the winter because there is no longer room for it,” Sala said. “The new roof we shouldn’t have to go up there at all. We’ve built it to sustain a 100-year snowstorm plus.”

There are currently no renovations occurring inside the Dome, Sala said. They are scheduled to begin in March, once the roof is near completion. Sala said the first fall 2020 home game is constantly on his mind as the renovations continue “on schedule.” The overall project reportedly costs $118 million, and will be paid for by fundraising, borrowing and school reserves.

Syracuse fans who saw the cranes lowered during the Orange’s home football game against Holy Cross on Sept. 28 are likely to see them “knuckled over” again in the future, Sala said. 

If the sustained wind is above a certain threshold for more than 10 seconds, then Sala said the protocol is to lower both cranes. As the weather worsens, the standard protocol will be applied as needed. 

Once winter is over and renovations inside begin, the university has said that by 2022, the new roof will be complemented by new lighting, a video board, air conditioning and improved concessions.

“It’s not excitement, it’s stress. Making sure that can happen. There’s a lot of anticipation,” Sala said. “We’re changing the landscape of the city for years to come.”

Published on October 14, 2019 at 4:15 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo