Dome Structure Shelters Recreation and Sports at Edinboro University

Urban Engineers was the design professional for the new inflatable sports dome at Edinboro University. The PVC-coated fabric dome is 370-feet-long, 230- feet-wide, and 72-feet-high. The 85,000 square foot facility serves as a recreation and sports practice venue for the University’s athletic teams and students. It includes a 236-meter indoor track, four multi-use courts, high jump, pole vault and long jump, and a floor area large enough to accommodate a full lacrosse field. An attached conventional structure includes an office and toilet facilities.

The Dome itself is a pre-engineered facility that is permanent in nature; that is, it will not be taken down and re-inflated at various times throughout the year. Makeup fans, with built-in heaters, blow continuously to keep the dome inflated. Standalone air conditioning units operate during the summer.

As the design professional, Urban was responsible for the design including site/civil, stormwater, grading, geotechnical engineering, construction administration, and construction inspection, and architecture was handled by our subconsultant Gary Matczak. Urban’s MEP division, Marvin Waxman Consulting Engineers, was responsible for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design.

Urban executed the design as part of an open-end contract with the University. Since 1998, Urban has continuously held open-end contracts with Edinboro University.

The dome is named after Class of 1975 alumnus Mike Zafirovski, who contributed $1.5 million to the approximately $5 million project.