An Experience in the Loud House Post-Renovations, Minus the Fans
By Eric Moon
CitrusTV Football Reporter and Videographer
Since the S-U Women’s Basketball team completed its game against Boston College in the Carrier Dome on March 1st, Syracuse fans have been waiting for last Saturday. The first game inside the Dome following $118 million worth of renovations. A brand new center-hung scoreboard was installed along with a new turf field and a new lighting system, not to mention the new non-air supported roof. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic and NYS guidelines, no fans were there to experience it.
Media access was limited for the home opener. However, I was lucky enough to be welcomed into the Dome on Saturday. Here’s some of what to expect from the renovated Dome once fans can attend games again.
The New Roof
Goodbye, airlock doors, hello new roof.
Installing a new roof was the main improvement in the renovations, and it certainly is a vast improvement from the old roof. The most notable difference in the new roof is obviously outside the dome—the roller coaster-like stadium arches on top of the building.
Inside, the roof doesn’t look much different. Light comes in from the diamond-shaped center of the roof with enclosed panels surrounding it.
The major changes with the roof, the stadium arches, and no more air support needed appear to have been very successful in design and execution.
The Center-Hung Scoreboard
This is the first thing you look at when you step foot in the stands. The new scoreboard is enormous and looks beautiful inside the Dome.
It’s one of the most giant scoreboards on a college campus in the country, and it couldn’t be more of a fit in the building. Even though Syracuse didn’t run out of a smoke-filled tunnel due to the delay on Saturday, the pre-field entrance was much improved with the pregame hype video playing on the scoreboard.
The New Lights
New LED lighting was installed during renovations, and when it’s on, it looks excellent in-person and on television. However, when the lights turn off pregame, before kickoff and after touchdowns, the difference between day games and night games is, well, day and night.
If you watched the game on Saturday, you probably noticed this most after the Orange’s five touchdowns. The lights come down in the Dome, and orange and blue lights are lit up on the roof. It looks great at night but not so much for day games, as you can see in the Sean Tucker Touchdown clip above.
What’s Missing? The Fans
It’s the fans that make the Loud House the Loud House. When the big plays happened in last week’s game, there was a much different, much quieter atmosphere inside, as you can hear in the Trill Williams Touchdown clip above.
It was still very, very loud inside when music was being played to the point where you couldn’t hear yourself think. SU Head Coach Dino Babers likened it to a high school student being given the aux to a brand new bose speaker for the first time.
But even though the Loud House was still loud, it wasn’t the same without fans, and I know I can’t wait to see fans inside the renovated Carrier Dome for the first time when it is safe.
ewmoon@syr.edu | @ericmoon22
