NORWICH – Stephen Stark is out, but a partner in Alteren LLC claims the former developer’s big idea behind the once-proposed $62 million resort project in the Town of Norwich isn’t.

“The project is absolutely not dead,” said Alteren Managing Partner Bill Bobo, contending that the company is now taking a more “deliberate” approach compared to Stark’s efforts.

Previous plans – which included building a 155-room hotel, 70 up-scale housing structures, retail stores, an 18-hole golf course, equestrian facilities, and an outdoor amphitheater on nearly 2,000 acres just east of the City of Norwich – were first announced in July 2003. The project lingered for three years, however, passing by two dates for groundbreaking in 2004 and 2005. Updates from the developers quieted in the summer of 2006; Stark said New York Regional Interconnect Inc.’s power line proposal was what stalled progress.

“There were some setbacks,” Bobo said. “But it (Alteren) is not dead, it’s not even on life support.”

Without offering specific details, Bobo said the initial hotel design, pending any possible changes, will remain the centerpiece of the proposal. The name Alteren could change, he said.

“We are re-evaluating what we are doing,” he said. “We are not going as fast as the original plans called for.”