Old Dominion Univ. "has rejected" a proposal to build a 25,000-seat football stadium without reviewing the "unsolicited bid, saying the timing isn’t right for such a public-private venture," according to a front-page piece by Harry Minium of the Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT. S.B. Ballard Construction Founder & Owner Stephen Ballard submitted the bid, and the ODU Board of Visitors "voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to send Ballard’s proposal back to him, likely ending the hope of having a new stadium in place" for the '18 season. S.B. Ballard combined with Clark Nexsen and AECOM to "spend $400,000 putting together a proposal" that called for a $124M stadium that would replace Foreman Field, ODU’s 79-year-old 20,118-seat facility. The unsolicited bid was "given to ODU officials in late March." Ballard’s proposal "called for ODU to accept his proposal in early July and for him to begin purchasing construction materials in December." ODU hired Populous "nearly a year ago to complete a study of how to replace Foreman Field." The board was told Thursday morning that the Populous report "will be shared with the administration by the end of April" (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 4/22).
