COVER ARTICLE - Colliers Engineering & Design
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Under The Dome by Colliers Engineering & Design
All Photos courtesy of The Haynor Hoyt Corporation
Syracuse University students and alums likely won’t be too broken up about the recent name change of their famed stadium. That’s because The JMA Wireless Dome, formerly the Carrier Dome, has never really been known by either of those names. Ask any fan where the Orange play, and they’ll tell you it’s simply: “The Dome.” So, it’s easy to imagine that being tasked with replacing The Dome’s iconic white apex might come with a serious dose of pressure. And that’s before you consider that this is no ordinary ceiling we’re talking about. The JMA Wireless Dome is the single largest domed stadium on any college campus and the largest in the entire northeastern United States. Geiger Engineering, the original designer of the Carrier Dome, was called on once again to wow prospective athletic recruits and keep everyone cool and safely off the roof. A team from Colliers Engineering & Design, led by Lucas Boyer, PLS, Geographic Discipline Leader for Survey/ Geospatial services, was brought in to perform the vertical survey which would guide this very unique dome from bottom to top to meet perfectly in the middle of the structure. Since the Carrier Dome opened in 1980, the Syracuse men’s basketball team has led the NCAA in average attendance sixteen times. It also holds the record for the largest home-court single game attendance with 35,642 for a game against Duke in 2019. What those statistics can’t capture, however, is the oppressive heat and humidity generated when thousands of fans, some dripping orange-and-blue paint, lose their minds over a late-game threepointer. That’s because, until recently, the dome was inflated by a system designed in the late 1970s. Forced air kept the fabric ceiling afloat, but it also prevented anyone from cracking a window when it got hot. Things weren’t that much better in the wintertime either. Staff had to actually climb up onto the roof and push snow off to avoid the risk of buckling. 18 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER FEBRUARY 2024
cover article - Colliers Engineering & Design
