Northeastern eyes plan for stadium

Northeastern University is hoping to build a $35 million, 8,500-spectator sports stadium and recreation complex off Columbus Avenue in Roxbury as part of its ongoing effort to expand its Boston campus, university officials confirmed yesterday.

The stadium, which would be used for football and several other sports, has been proposed for the site of what is now a large parking lot Northeastern owns near the Ruggles MBTA subway, train, and bus station, Northeastern athletic director David O'Brien said.

The success of the university's fund-raising efforts will determine the scale of the project.

''We're rounding third base," O'Brien said. ''Ideally, it would be 8,500 seats, depending on the success of our fund-raising efforts. It could be anywhere from simply a campus recreational facility with very limited seating, if any, to a facility that could be used for multiple purposes with 8,500 seats."

O'Brien said that university officials should know within six months to a year whether they will have sufficient funds to build the most extensive facility.

''As the university makes the transformation from a commuter school, the need for an on-campus facility has grown," O'Brien said. ''The students have expressed the need for this."

O'Brien said the university has been ''pleasantly surprised" by the success of its fund-raising, following a vote by Northeastern students in the spring to pay for $10 million of the project's cost through a mandatory sports and recreation fee. The university currently is exploring how to make up the difference, including contributions from alumni and corporate sponsors.

''We received a very warm reception from our [fund-raising] prospects, and many of them are considering at what level they would like to support the project," O'Brien said.

A stadium and recreation complex would add a critical component to the university's continuing efforts to transform Northeastern from its commuter roots to a large, vibrant, residential campus. Currently, the football team uses university-owned Parsons Field in Brookline, which is a 2-mile walk or ride from the university and is often sparsely attended for football games and other sporting events. O'Brien said he did not know if the university would sell the Parsons Field land to help pay for the new facility.

Students approved a $90 mandatory recreation fee last spring that will raise the $10 million they have pledged to the proposal, said Student Government Association president Bill Durkin. Until this academic year, a $60 sports and recreation pass had been optional, he said.

''The students are upholding their end of the bargain," Durkin said. ''We've put our money where our mouths are."

The plan caught City Hall by surprise. Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who attended a groundbreaking ceremony at Northeastern yesterday with university president Richard Freeland, did not know of the proposal, according to spokesman Seth Gitell.

''This is new to us," Gitell said. ''We'll await more details."

The proposal also surprised Rose Arruda of the Roxbury Safety Net organization, which works on community development issues. ''Any sort of development has to go through a community process," Arruda said. ''None of this has come forward. We have heard nothing about this."

Arruda said she asked Northeastern officials in August about expansion plans and was told without elaboration that the university was ''looking" at the parking lot.

''This hasn't gone through the proper community process and the proper channels," Arruda said. ''I'm sure nobody really knows about this. I've been in meetings, and no one's brought it up. Once again, Northeastern has decided to do what it wants in our community, and we find out at the last minute."

O'Brien acknowledged that the university has not contacted the community yet concerning the proposal. ''We're not at the point yet where we really have talked with the neighborhood or with the city," O'Brien said. ''We're simply in the conceptual stage to see if it makes sense to Northeastern."

The athletic director said that a large recreational and sports complex at the parking-lot site would help cement the university's standing as a residential institution. ''It's the last piece of the puzzle to legitimize Northeastern as a residential campus," O'Brien said. ''The most important benefit would be the improvement in the campus recreation program."

The project would be designed to serve a broad range of intramural sports, club-level teams, and varsity sports such as field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.

Yesterday, Menino and Freeland presided over a ceremonial ground-breaking for a seven-story, multiuse facility on Leon Street that will house the John D. O'Bryant African-American Institute. Overall, Northeastern has earmarked $477 million during the next 10 years for new buildings, including a research center, health science center, and seven new dormitories.

Anchoring the sports teams in the booming central campus is seen as a vital means of attracting students to sporting events and boosting the university's sense of community. Northeastern's sports teams have been seeking a higher profile in recent years.

In particular, the football team is looking to move beyond the public relations setback and legal complications that resulted when coach Don Brown bolted Northeastern to accept the job as head coach at the University of Massachusetts. Brown had started to rebuild the Northeastern program when he was hired in 2000, and he had pushed the university to improve its facilities.

Mark Blaudschun of the Globe staff and correspondents Jack Encarnacao and Heather Allen contributed to this report.