Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse University announced plans to spend $118 million on improvements to the Carrier Dome that will include a permanent roof, a vertically hung scoreboard, air conditioning and other amenities.

The project won't affect a football, basketball or lacrosse season, and some of the work will begin as early as this summer. Parts of the project, including the new roof, are expected to be in place for the Fall of 2020. Other improvements are scheduled to be in place by the Fall of 2022.

Conversation about the future of the building has been a constant around the community for the past four years, ever since secret conversations about a possible downtown stadium became public. After those talks fell apart, Syracuse announced that it intended to renovate the Carrier Dome, making it the focal point of an announced $255 million campus upgrade.

That announcement also indicated Syracuse would install a permanent roof, but in recent conversations Syracuse officials had indicated they were considering all their options.

The latest portion of that plan was announced by the university on Monday, after it was approved during the annual meeting of Syracuse's Board of Trustees.

"Awesome (weekend)," Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said. "Mother's Day, commencement, stadium. New construction and new renovation. We're thrilled. This will enhance the experience of anyone who visits the Dome, whether it's our student body or out of town visitors."

The renovations should address many of the common complaints from fans about a building that was considered a modern marvel when it opened in 1980 but whose air-supported roof and concrete interior were growing increasingly archaic and challenging. That reality has become especially evident in an era when the creation of flashy college facilities has been compared to an arms race.

The improvements planned for the 2020 football season include the roof, scoreboard, new sound and lighting systems, improved wireless internet and improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The planned improvements for 2022 include air conditioning, enhanced restrooms and new concessions spaces.

Both Wildhack and vice president and chief facilities officer Pete Sala said the improvements should create an environment more conducive to the modern sports fan. The changes will allow Syracuse to turn out the lights in the building, allowing for more dramatic pre-game and halftime experiences.

"The center-hung scoreboard will be a wow factor for our fans," Wildhack said. "The fact that (it's on a track and) you can move it over for basketball is cool. State of the art sound and lighting can enhance the experience and give us the chance to do things creatively. And the Wi-Fi, young people want to share their experiences socially."

Syracuse Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Amir Rahnamay-Azar said the school will pay for the project using three internal sources of revenue -- fundraising, school reserves and borrowing. Wildhack said there has been no money from the state or county promised at this point but indicated the school will continue to explore its options.

The most necessary change to the building was the elimination of the air-supported roof system. The current roof must remain inflated at all times, requires snow removal during winters and comes with a constant risk of a failure like the one that occurred in Minnesota's Metrodome in 2010.

"I just (look forward) to not having to stress every single day, of not having to worry about the roof in the winter," Sala said. "I don't know what it will be like to enjoy the winter."

Sala said the new roof will utilize a "cable truss" system that includes a hard material on the outside-third and a translucent material over the inner two-thirds of the building. Not having to worry about air locks will give Syracuse the option of holding more events like concerts. The current set-up makes it very difficult for equipment to be moved efficiently in and out of the building.

In previous conversations about the building, Sala had said the school planned to use a product called ETFE on the roof that was "almost like glass" and used in Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium.

He said that the current model Syracuse is looking to use is a PTFE-fiberglass mesh that will offer 45 percent light transmission. That will increase the amount of natural light coming into the Dome from the current amount.

"It won't look a lot different than what is there (now), but it will definitely be different," Sala said.

While the project won't involve the loss of a home season for the football, basketball or lacrosse programs, Sala is hopeful the 2020 football schedule can be formatted to give him a little extra time.

Syracuse currently has a road game scheduled at Rutgers for the third week of the season, and a home non-conference game against Liberty in the seventh week.

"We're going through some different options on paper," Sala said. "We're early (in the planning process) here. We're going in the day after commencement like we did in 1999. John and I are working with (senior deputy athletic director) Herm Frazier on the schedule. If we can buy three weeks on the (football schedule) we'd like to be done by mid-September 2020. Whatever I can do to have John help me on the backside I'll take it. It shouldn't really effect anything. We're bidding on NCAA stuff. We're talking about Monster Jam."

When asked if the changes could alter the school's agreement with Carrier on naming rights for the building, an agreement that costs the university millions of dollars of revenue annually when compared to its peers, Rahnamay-Azar said: "Our investment of $118 million has nothing to do with our relationship with Carrier. We're doing this because this is the right thing to do."

The $118 million investment brings Syracuse's spending on its Campus West project to $168 million of the previously announced $255 million.

The most recent announcement did not include some improvements that have been mentioned when Syracuse has discussed the project and released conceptual renderings, particularly walls that would allow visitors to see inside the building from the outside and a connection to Archbold Gymnasium.

Sala said those are among the likely improvements the university will continue to shoot for as part of a potential second phase of renovations.

Other considerations for a possible second phase include changes to luxury seating and the possibility of individual seats instead of benches in the lower portion of the stadium. Sala had previously indicated that chairbacks were a "high priority" on Syracuse's list of improvements.

"We've always said that we have this menu of things we'd love to do," Sala said. "There's a lot of things. It's a lot of discussion, a lot of prep work before we get on those things."

"It's almost a top-down thing," Wildhack said. "You're start with the roof. When you do the roof, you do the lighting. When you do the lighting, you do the sound and scoreboard. Part of this is, how do you do things as efficiently as possible? There's a menu. Once we get past phase one, there's an enthusiasm to do more."

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