Editor’s note: This story originally ran on dailyorange.com on Aug. 2.

An unknown, private development firm recently contacted Syracuse University with plans for a new football stadium, SU athletic director Daryl Gross confirmed to The Daily Orange in a telephone interview Aug. 2.

‘Recently a private developer approached the University and expressed interest in conducting a feasibility study related to an idea they had for a new privately-financed athletic stadium,’ Gross wrote in a statement. ‘Private developers frequently approach the University with ideas and we indicated to this developer that they could conduct a feasibility study at their own cost.

‘It is very premature to consider this a University project, as this is simply a concept that has been advanced by a developer. We expect that the developer will discuss the results of their feasibility study with us once it has been completed.’

The Carrier Dome, the largest on-campus domed stadium in the United States, opened in 1980.

Critics have long questioned the university’s decision to sell naming rights to the Carrier Corp. for a one-time payment of $2.75 million. For example, TCF Financial Corp. paid the University of Minnesota $35 million in 2005 to call the Gophers’ future football stadium TCF Bank Stadium.

‘(The donation) was better than nothing, and nothing was what we were dealing with,’ former SU athletic director Jake Crouthamel told The Daily Orange in December. ‘In retrospect from a purely financial standpoint, it was not a good deal, but it was the only deal out there and that to us was sure better than nothing.’

The D.O. contacted Gross this summer after speaking with a source with knowledge of the firm’s study. The source wished to remain anonymous because he/she was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation.

Published on August 26, 2007 at 12:00 pm