The Carrier Dome has stood empty on this date as no events have taken place on June 23 during the past 25 years. The Dome officially opened in September, 1980. Since then, it has become a fixture on the Syracuse city skyline and brought national attention to the Salt City. Did you know that the Dome covers 7.7 acres and has 527,320 square feet of floor space? Keep reading for more interesting facts about the Carrier Dome.
Background
The Carrier Dome is a 49,262-seat sports stadium located on the campus of Syracuse University. Since its opening on September 20, 1980, the facility has hosted a wide variety of events. The facility serves as the home of the SU Orange in football, men’s basketball, and men’s and women’s lacrosse. Furthermore, the Dome has hosted numerous rounds of NCAA and BIG EAST championships in basketball, lacrosse and track and field; hosts regional and state scholastic competitions in football, soccer and field hockey; and scheduled NBA pre-season games.
In addition to sporting events, the Dome has staged Olympic ice skating shows, as well as concerts by stars such as Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, U2, Genesis, the Rolling Stones, Garth Brooks, The Who, Pink Floyd and many other rock and country performers. SU’s annual Commencement ceremony and various academic convocations take place in the Dome. The Billy Graham Crusade visited Syracuse and the Carrier Dome in 1989. Moreover, the annual celebration honoring the life of Martin Luther King Jr. is hosted in the Dome every January.
Design and Construction
The Carrier Dome was constructed between April 1979 and September 1980. Total construction cost was $26.85 million, including a $2.75 million naming gift from Carrier Corporation. Hueber, Hunt and Nichols, Inc. was the general contractor and Birdair Structure Inc. out of Buffalo was in charge of roof construction. In all, more than 80 companies contributed to transforming thirty thousand cubic yards of concrete and 880 tons of steel into the fifth largest domed stadium in the US and the first in the Northeast.
Dimensions
The Carrier Dome covers 7.7 acres and has 527,320 square feet of floor space. It is 570 feet long and 497 feet wide, and the top of the Dome is 160 feet above the playing surface.
Roof
The Dome roof, which was replaced during the summer of 1999 after 19 years of service from the original cover, weighs 220 tons. It is constructed of 287,000 square feet of Teflon-coated Fiberglass fabric and 14 three-inch-thick steel bridge cables. Sixteen five-foot diameter fans, located in special fan rooms on sideline walls, provide the air pressure to keep the roof inflated. When necessary, the fans circulate air heated to 160 degrees Fahrenheit to melt snow on contact with the roof.
More than 23.5 million people have passed through the revolving doors of the Carrier Dome since the building’s first public event on September 20, 1980. Throughout the 2005-06 SU athletics seasons the University will celebrate the first 25 years of the Loud House.
In the first 25 years of the Dome, more than 1,740 events were staged, including collegiate, professional and high school athletics events, University commencement, concerts, a circus, and community events. These activities are chronicled in the more than 100 photographs that are currently in the concourse of the Dome. Fans who attend events in the Dome can re-live the memories with these photos.
