The Carrier Dome is an iconic part of the Central New York skyline and it's in the midst of a makeover. Work is underway on a $118 million renovation project and there’s an update on the project.

According to Syracuse University Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala, construction is on schedule. Most of the work has been prep work for the bigger steel pieces, which is the next step in the process.

But that's the next step.

So over the next month or so, these cranes will be doing the heavy lifting.

If you look closely at the Carrier Dome you can see the new roof start to take shape. The white tension ring will hold up the crown truss, which will hold up the new roof.

Sala says the steel will arrive late next week and then the Syracuse skyline will start to change.

“For me it's not excitement, it's stress,” said Sala. “It's making sure that can happen. You know, the weather is starting to change, understanding the winter conditions, the workforce, everything that's got to go on to make that steel go up in the air." 

Sala says the appearance will start to change dramatically in November. The backstays are in and the focus is on tightening the tension ring.

The inflatable roof is set to come down in early March.

Crews are working about six days a week to hit their deadlines.

"Every day that schedule is on my mind, right,” Sala said. “We are counting days, we have a countdown clock, we know exactly what's left. We know, I've never been so focused on the fall and the first football game ever in my life. There's no moving that date."

Sala says one of the biggest challenges of this project is planning construction around events and making sure the Dome is safe. Before anyone goes inside, engineers must ok the building's safety.

Crews are always watching to make sure people outside are safe, too.

"You've got, I don't know, 30,000 students on campus that need to get where they go every day,” Sala said. “The amount of people we have deployed around the site to make sure students get across the road and they're safe when they're here."

Sala says crews have winter days built in, so it shouldn't set them back at all. 

An interesting note, the construction will make it harder to get snow off the roof this winter but they won't have to clear snow off the new roof. Sala says it is designed to hold the weight of a hundred year storm.

Other aspects of the project include improving accessibility for fans with disabilities, a new scoreboard and new lighting.