Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse University is targeting December of 2024 for the opening of its new football operations center, a critical component of the school’s transformation of the Manley Field House space into the John A. Lally Athletics Complex.
Pete Sala, the school’s vice president and chief facilities officer, included the project timeline in an email to the campus community.
When completed the John A. Lally Athletics Complex will provide a badly-needed upgrade to the areas where Syracuse athletes spend much of their time. The complex will house weightlifting and conditioning facilities, team locker rooms, lounges, eating spaces, administrative offices and areas where athletes perform schoolwork and receive academic help.
The school said last October that the improvements made to create the Lally Complex will be done in phases. It put an estimated price on the first phase at $55 million.
Lally, a former Syracuse football player, provided the cornerstone donation to make the improvements, pledging $25 million in 2019. Lally said he was initially planning to donate to help the football program but a tour of the school’s aging athletic facilities created awareness that all of the school’s programs could use the help.
Different portions of Lally’s pledge are unlocked as the school meets various fundraising goals, with the mission of bringing in other financial supporters.
One of the major donations for the football operations center came from Arthur and Chandler Jones, who made a seven-figure donation in October.
The school said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in February that it expected the operations center to be part of the first phase of improvements and that it hoped to begin construction this summer but they were dependent on fundraising. The campus-wide construction update from Pete Sala provided the first firm timeline.
Sala’s announcement said that work will begin in June and start with excavation and utility work. Eventually, the current football wing will be demolished, followed by the construction of a larger building. Work on that building is expected to be completed by 2024.
In February, Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said the project was a statement that Syracuse is committed to competing at both the conference and national level.
“Today makes a statement,” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said in February. “I think it’s a bold statement that we are committed to being best in class at everything we do and that includes competing and winning at the ACC level and national level.”
Sala’s e-mail also included updates on two other athletics projects.
It reiterated that the school will replace all the aluminum benches in the JMA Wireless Dome with chairback seating before the 2024 football season.
To prepare for the installation of the chairbacks the school is making improvements to better comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Those improvements include widening aisles to 48 inches, replacing ramps, building new ADA seating platforms and replacing railings.
The school will also be making upgrades at the Syracuse Softball Stadium, with improvements scheduled to be made to the field, dugouts and bullpens. Those are expected to be completed before the 2024 season.
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