What the Hell is That New Structure Near Manley?
The massive steel skeleton currently going up by Manley is disappointingly not an indoor roller rink for all Syracuse students’ enjoyment — it is, instead, an indoor football practice facility, for the one and only Syracuse University football team.
Although many would quickly point out that there is already a massive athletic facility on campus — hello, Carrier Dome — this particular space is being built just for the football guys. Apparently, once basketball season starts the team gets the shaft and is left practicing on a smaller field. This may seem like a slightly ridiculous reason to invest in what Syracuse.com reports as tens of millions of dollars, but who hasn’t seen those guys in Ernie? The word small has nothing to do with them.
While some may wonder if this basketball vs. football space struggle could simply be solved through better practice scheduling, many at the university are happy knowing that within the 102,258-sqaure feet of the new facility, the football guys are feeling a little less underappreciated. According to Syracuse.com, the space will include a full size football field, with lines for soccer and lacrosse, as well as bathrooms, lockers and “plenty of storage space.” How exciting!
The non-seven foot tall, 290 pound sector of the student body should not be feeling left out, however, as the building itself will be quite the sight. Students will have the opportunity to gaze upon it at their leisure, or just every time they take a trip to South Campus. Pete Sala, SU’s senior associate athletic director for facilities, was even quoted saying, “In my mind, this is a Taj Majal.” It is unclear if this reference comes from the fact that the building will also have white exterior walls or if we are in for a surprise and are getting a UNESCO World Heritage site right on campus. A detail the facility will have, that the Taj Majal is sadly lacking, is a 337-foot light up orange “S” on the front of the building. Between this and our infamous social scene, 'Cuse may be coming close to becoming some type of Wonder of the World.