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Syracuse Athletics to Vacate Carrier Dome Next March for Roof Work

Carrier Dome renovation rendering

In a recent radio interview, Syracuse University athletic director John Wildhack indicated that athletics will vacate Carrier Dome next March to accommodate extensive roof work.

Home to multiple sports–including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and football–Carrier Dome is set to undergo a major renovation that includes a new fixed roof and other upgrades. Additional details emerged on the project emerged Tuesday, when Wildhack said in an interview with ESPN Radio’s Brent Axe that athletics is preparing to vacate the facility beginning on March 1, 2020, a timeline that would affect the university’s lacrosse programs. More from ESPN Radio:

“As we look toward 2020, really beginning March 1 of 2020, athletics will vacate the Dome so that we can begin the heavy lift on the roof project,”… “That would necessitate both (lacrosse) programs looking to play games outside next year.”

While that provides some sense of how the renovations will proceed, it seems that there are still many details that have to be sorted out. Syracuse indicated in a statement that more exact details on the renovation, including a concrete timeline, could emerge sometime this fall. Once that is sorted out, it should provide a clearer sense of whether or not the athletic programs that use the Carrier Dome–including basketball–will have any part of their schedules affected by the project. More from Syracuse.com:

“At this time, there are many moving parts and construction timelines remain influx,” the statement said “The university is working through scheduling and we hope to share a more concrete timeline with the campus and broader Central New York communities sometime in the early fall.”

Wildhack did not specifically say that the Dome wouldn’t be usable at all after March 1 but, if it is not, and if the date remains set, then the lacrosse programs would feel the biggest brunt of burden from the construction project. More than a month of the lacrosse schedule would be pushed outside of the Carrier Dome.

The Syracuse men’s and women’s basketball teams would also be forced to close their seasons with road games, although the number of games impacted would be limited. The women’s team would not be able to host the NCAA Women’s Tournament if they earned a top four seed, as they did this year. Syracuse’s commencement, which is also traditionally held in the Carrier Dome, would likely need to be held elsewhere also.

The statement provided to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard did not address those potential issues.

The roof project is one part of a larger renovation Syracuse is planning for Carrier Dome, with air conditioning, accessibility, sound and lighting upgrades, and a new centerhung display also among the amenities in the works. Carrier Dome originally opened in 1980.

Rendering courtesy Syracuse University.

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