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After Winter Storm Stella collapsed Utica College's sports dome, the college said they would be bringing a new dome back. The only question was when?

That answer is almost exactly eight months after it was ruined by Stella.

Here's what it looked like with several feet of snow:


On Saturday, Utica College shared this photo on their Twitter page:


According to an article from the Tangerine - Utica College's student newspaper - The Todd and Jen Hutton Recreational Center(known on campus as simply 'the dome') is set to re-open it's doors on February 1, 2018, just in time for Spring semester to begin.

Executive Director of Facilities Operations and Planning for UC Daniel Bollana told the Tangerine the new dome will have several features to protect from collapsing again.

“It will have a different cabling system; web design versus the previous design which will provide more rigidity,” Bollana said. “Under snow and higher wind loading, the dome will be capable to inflate to a higher pressure than the previous one.”

Of course the new dome will also have features to protect against another snow-mageddon.

“There will be a specialty heating system which will help melt and shed snow that might collect on the surface of the dome,” Bollana said. “After the dome is inflated, work on the inside will begin with insulation, lighting, electrical, mechanical and then all the floor preparation and installation.”

Now with the dome back, student-athletes at Utica College won't have to travel to other facilities, or juggle practice schedules to accommodate other sports teams on campus.

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