By Kate Augusto

With discussion of financial cutbacks in Northeastern athletics, the status of a new multipurpose recreational facility, stated to include a new football stadium, remains unchanged for the past few years, Northeastern officials said.

Student Government Association (SGA) senate legislation passed April 4, 2004 established the campus recreation fee, which costs students enrolled in classes $45 per semester, largely to help fund the facility, according to the legislation. The multipurpose facility, however, now remains contingent on the university’s next Institutional Master Plan, set for 2010.

The status of the facility will not be affected if the rumored potential cut to the football program proves true, said Vice President for Enrollment and Student Life Philomena Mantella.

“The reason why [the facility] did advance as a project initially was not for a single sport. It was advanced for multiuse relevance,” she said. “I don’t think [you can] link those two things together, saying one is contingent upon another.”

Athletics Director Peter Roby said the university wouldn’t invest on such a large scale project if it was only for one sports program.

“[The facility] would accommodate football, but it certainly wouldn’t be the only thing to do with it,” Roby said. “It would be too much money and space dedicated to be used for just six Saturdays in the fall.”

However, SGA Vice President for Financial Affairs Rob Ranley said SGA, which has a say in how the campus recreation fee is used, would rethink a plan for a multipurpose facility if athletic funding cutbacks result in the elimination of the football team.

“The facility does have other uses, but the idea was to create more support, more revenue and better student attendance [for football games],” he said. “There’s no reason to have a stadium without football.”

But Mantella said an outdoor field in general is important for students, based on studies done about campus priorities during the years.

The project, which she said is being worked on “in the spirit of cooperation” between SGA and the administration, was always known to be a future project, though “future can be subject to interpretation,” she said.

“There has been fundraising on behalf of the facility and there’s certainly been groundwork