The Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, known to the Florida faithful as the O’Dome, will undergo another significant renovation in the future. 

The University of Florida will extensively repair or replace the roof system at the O’Connell Center, according to a project fact sheet provided to Swamp247, and UF is interested in constructing a roof that, if possible, is “solar ready.”

The project’s budget is substantial – approximately $7 million “for the entire roof and any other work needed to support the roof project”, and a building condition survey concluded "the roof is in need of replacement", according to the documents. 

The multi-million dollar renovation is tentatively scheduled to begin in late August of 2023, with a construction period of 65 weeks. The final completion inspection is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2025, though Florida is still in the bidding process with prospective firms. 

It's hardly the first renovation in the 42-year history of the O’Connell Center. 

The roof initially was constructed with inflatable Teflon, which required a system of blowers to keep the roof in place during events. As the system became more costly to utilize, a replacement roof became a priority, and in 1998 the current hard-shell roof was constructed. 

In 2016, the O’Connell Center underwent a massive renovation that had a budget of nearly $65 million that included an entire rebuild of the interior, but the roof wasn’t included in the renovation. It included a modernization of the inside, $2 million video boards, and much more for the home of multiple Florida athletic events, including men's and women's basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and the team's swimming and diving programs. 

Now, the Gators will look to restore – or replace – the roof, though it remains to be seen when the O’Connell Center will undergo further construction. 

UF is in the process of taking bids from an architect and engineer team, which will be selected with the Design-Bill-Build method. The selected team will provide the university with design, construction documents, bid documents, construction administration, post-occupancy and record document services. Florida’s facilities website currently does not list any registered applicants to construct the project. 

The project is being led by a four-person team at UF in Lynda Reinhart, director of the O’Connell Center, Cydney McGlothlin, the University Architect for Planning Design & Construction, Robbie Grassano, UF’s Project Manager in Planning Design & Construction, and Wade MacLaren, an assistant director in Facilities Services. The project "will look at the roof wholistically", and the list of repairs may include maintenance to other roof components, connections and penetrations. Furthermore, the project includes an evaluation of the entire structure in order "to provide the O’Connell Center with calculations on structural capacity for productions and events."

The committee will conduct final interviews with the project’s applicants on Nov. 7 before finalizing the project timeline. 

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