Carrier-Dome-gallery1.JPG

Is this how the outside of a renovated Carrier Dome will look?

(Walters Group Inc.)

Syracuse, N.Y. — The folks at Walters Group in Ontario were as excited to talk about the possibilities for a new Carrier Dome as you and I were. The steel company was eager to express their participation in the project, rolled out some sweet renderings and even provided an idea of when construction on the renovated building would get started.

Or so we thought.

They issued a press release last week promoting their involvement in the Carrier Dome renovation and then, as soon as it started to reach the press, pulled it from their website.

A statement from Syracuse followed, and shortly after that, another arrived from Turner Construction, which is overseeing the Carrier Dome project. Both said that the Walters press release was inaccurate.

Turner's statement from its vice president and general manager, Carl Stewart III, read: "This is one of a number of sub-contractors we engaged to assist in evaluating options for the Dome. The information posted on their website regarding the design and timeline for the new roof is not correct. Syracuse has not made any final decision on project design or timeline, we are working with the University to determine the best path forward for the project."

Both groups declined to address what specifically was inaccurate about the release. Neither side responded when asked if Walters had been formally hired.

Which leaves us all wondering exactly how accurate a picture of the renovated Carrier Dome, one of the community's most noteworthy buildings, that we got on Tuesday morning.

The design ticked all the boxes mentioned by Pete Sala last week, the first time a representative from Syracuse spoke publicly about the project. The roof has the saw-tooth design Sala mentioned, as well as increased transparency and natural sunlight. It even has a dome shape that will appeal to traditionalists, maintaining a sense of history about the building.

Left unsaid is whether the rendering included in the Walters release was an early draft, one of a handful of options, the leader in the clubhouse or the top choice awaiting formal approval.

Walters wrote that they had begun helping with the roof design in April, the construction process would start in July and "site mobilization" would begin in October. Given those statements, it's hard to imagine the concept for the roof isn't close to final.

Sala, though, noted last week that amenities were still being determined, a "guaranteed maximum price" was still being sought and portions of the project were still being figured out, all of which would make a July start date extremely aggressive. In statements, both Syracuse and Turner said the timeline wasn't accurate.

Of course, this could also be game of semantics. Perhaps everything is accurate but, in university eyes, premature.

Wealthy donors and boosters expect to be informed of plans before they're published on the website of an unknown company in Canada, and Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud is fighting a perception battle with members of faculty in which he's been accused of ignoring their role in campus decisions.

Syverud and the university have announced that their next step would be to meet with members of the campus community to discuss the project. Having final plans published for a $255 million investment before meeting those promises would be a bad look for a chancellor already facing protests about spending $6 million on a campus promenade.

All of which means we might have gotten a good look at the future of the Carrier Dome on Tuesday. Just how good a look, though, Syracuse University isn't ready for most of us to know.

Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1639.