No More Dome Sweet Dome?  

By: Mike Lindsley 



We get used to things in Central New York. We have known Jim Boeheim for nearly 40 years as a head coach. We understand miserable Winter seasons. We know Route 81. We understand when businesses come and go. The public totally gets construction, Lights on the Lake, Dinosaur BBQ, Heid's of Liverpool and, yes, the Carrier Dome. 



But maybe the Carrier Dome is on its way out. Rumors are swirling around this place that a new state-of-the-art building could be on the way soon, thanks to private funding and of course government spending with tax dollars. 



40,000 seats or so. A possible retractable roof. Kennedy Square, housing project, East Fayette Street. 14 acres. State property. An arena first for football. Basketball eventually. 



Good? Bad? Mad? Sad? Happy? Positive? Negative? Lets weigh-in. 



The positive: Syracuse is run-down. People move from here. There is nothing to do here. Well, a new arena changes all that right? We would get more concerts and it would create more jobs. It would be a state-of-the-art facility that we could be proud of as a community. The Dome isn't old in years, it is old in structure. This would be new, which Syracuse needs. Plus, the overall fan experience could be amazing. Parking and food and drinks and the overall experience could be second to none. If you get 39-40,000 people for football, this all of a sudden becomes a packed house or a sell-out with a loud atmosphere that is tough to play in (think Seattle Seahawks, college version). And if Duke comes for hoops? You could sell the building out! 



The negative: Ah, here we are. The Dome has character. It is what we know. And really, as Jim Boeheim says, it is a unique building that still offers plenty. Plus, can we guarantee the new place would be a greater home field advantage in basketball? Can we guarantee it will be mostly blue collar and minimal white collar and not the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx which lacks character and provides a quiet atmosphere that no opposition is scared of? We cannot guarantee any of that. And we also can't guarantee that the new facility will be anything more than another try at Destiny USA. New, but eventually old. Too expensive for the masses more than once a month. And if Syracuse has a skyline, the Dome is technically a part of it coming in from the North. You can't remove Central New York's Empire State Building, right? 



Final word: If the new arena is built correctly, it could be awfully special. If not, the community will hate it. In the end, change is change. We miss the old but find something good with the new and vice versa. It is like leaving a town or city or hometown. You love and hate certain things in every area. Just like Big East then, ACC now. 



So, if the Dome is replaced by a new arena, perhaps Jim Boeheim Place or Daryl Gross Center or Jim Brown Arena or Time Warner Cable of Syracuse Center, well, people will love it and they will hate it. There will be positives and negatives. There will be doubters and backers. There will be complainers and praisers. There will be spenders and visitors and season ticket holders and those who choose to stay at home and watch all the games. People will love the new place. They will hate the new place. 



Because that is a fact of life.