RCTC to discontinue use of ‘bubble’ over sports stadium after this year – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — The bubble has burst.

Rochester Community and Technical College President Jeffery Boyd has informed city leaders that it will no longer be installing the “bubble” dome over the Rochester Regional Sports Stadium after this winter due to the dome’s costs.

“The dome’s high setup, take-down and utility expenses — along with the need to replace its fabric and air handling system — have created an ongoing financial deficit,” Boyd said in an July 8, 2025, email to city officials. “Despite efforts to increase usage and revenue, continued operation is no longer sustainable for our college.

“This winter will be the last season we put up the dome,” he wrote.

Boyd provided a copy of his email to the Post Bulletin, but was unavailable for comment on Thursday, Aug. 14.

The dome’s deflation brings the end to a feature of the stadium that gave RCTC a distinctiveness unique among state colleges and universities. Only a small handful of universities have domed stadiums like the college.

Installation of the 400-by-250 fabric bubble was financed by a

$1.27 million public loan

to the RCTC Foundation in a measure approved by Rochester City Council in July 2009. The eye-catching dome was first inflated above the sports stadium later that same year.

Having a domed stadium at RCTC was ballyhooed at the time of its planning and installation as making Rochester a money-maker magnet for tournaments, sports camps and other activities. Adding the bubble made the stadium suitable for year-round use, as it was inflated in the winter months.

“This is an outstanding project,” then-Council Member Sandra Means said at the time the loan’s approval by the City Council. “It’s a good investment for taxpayers.”

Indeed, the domed stadium’s economic development potential was cited as a primary justification for the taxpayer loan. State law prohibits cities from making private-party loans in most cases. But a city could lend money for economic development projects.

At the time, a broad coalition of community and state agencies lined up in support of a domed facility at RCTC as an economic development opportunity.

They included Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, the Rochester Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Minnesota State High School League, the Rochester Lodging and Hospitality Association and a host of coaches and youth sports associations, according to a July 8, 2009, Post Bulletin editorial under the headline,

“Stadium ‘bubble’ is a good investment.”

The decision regarding the bubble comes at a time when boosters are using similar language to tout a

planned $65 million sports and recreation complex

that has drawn criticism from some in the community.

The fabric of the dome itself was seen as offering the “ultimate space” for a company to display its logo, thus generating naming rights revenue in addition to rents. But the economic dreams associated with the domed stadium failed to materialize. The bubble’s repair and maintenance costs no longer made economic sense, Boyd said in his email.

“We strive to meet the needs of our campus community, but rising maintenance and repair costs continue to force the College to make difficult decisions,” Boyd said in his statement.