Options D and E are non-starters because South Rd. and Stadium Dr./Ridge Rd. already struggle with handling the traffic that they already get (let alone parking)… do you really think a Dean Dome replacement in those places would be able to handle all of the Tar Heel Express buses?
As for the other three you suggested, the university already looked into those ideas last year. These are the options they weighed, as well as their trade-offs:
Obviously there haven’t been any formal announcements about this since then. Still, anything that involves
- Moving existing on-campus infrastructure;
- Eating away at precious existing parking lots (especially those for Kenan-Flagler, God forbid lmao), and/or;
- Deviating away from the recently-completed campus master plan
makes an idea dead on arrival.
This obviously takes the Bowles lot idea off the table - but I’d argue that a Smith Center renovation becomes a tougher sell, too, because you’d also need to pay for a temporary offsite replacement for the Koury Natatorium, too. Plus, UNC already promised to make both Koury and the Dean Dome available for the 2029 World University Games (which probably overlaps with the construction timeline).
Just to be clear: for historical and nostalgic reasons, I’d prefer to keep the Dean Dome where it currently is, too. But also, if it’s too impractical (and plus, we need something to kickstart our overdue dreams for Carolina North), though, there’s a point where you just have to bow down to the facts…
Side note: the Carolina North campus uses the same state funding and planning mechanism as what’s been making the construction and expansion of Centennial Campus at State possible. So even if you don’t care about UNC at all, it’s still a good thing to keep an eye on.