Syracuse University to replace Carrier Dome roof with $105 million fixed roof

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University plans to replace the “aging” Carrier Dome roof with a new fixed roof for about $105 million.

The university also plans “other improvements” to the Carrier Dome, but didn’t specify what those might entail.

It’s part of an estimated $255 million campus-improvement project that Syracuse is calling the “west campus project.”

The university’s board of trustees has “advanced” the project as part of what Syracuse is dubbing the “campus framework,” according to a news release the university issued Monday afternoon.

The project has no timeline or “exact final cost” because Syracuse University still needs to finalize “many details regarding the project.”

Besides replacement of the Carrier Dome roof, the west-campus project will include “substantial” renovations to Archbold Gymnasium to create the “Arch,” a new, “student-focused,” health and wellness complex.

Those renovations will cost about $50 million, the university said.

It’ll also include about $100 million for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-related accessibility and mobility upgrades at both Archbold Gymnasium and the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse University has shared the campus framework’s “key themes, vision and overarching goals” with the campus and local community during the last year and a half.

The board also authorized Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud and school leadership to begin the process of pursuing external non-university funding, including private donations, governmental support, and other resources that would support a “substantial” financial portion of the total west-campus project, according to the news release.

The university will launch the second phase of its outreach effort in the coming weeks, which will continue into the fall 2016 semester.

It will include a new interactive website and a series of campus dialogue and feedback sessions.

Syracuse University in early June will share the draft campus-framework document, which will include conceptual renderings, site maps, and other specific details, with the campus community, the school said.

“The board is eager to gain additional feedback from students, faculty and staff to help us refine and finalize these projects. We look forward to continuing this important conversation,” Steven Barnes, chairman of the Syracuse University board of trustees, said in the release.

Syracuse University’s announcement follows more than 18 months of campus information gathering, in which more than 5,000 students, faculty and staff participated in surveys and more than a dozen information sessions, the school said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com