from cleveland.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio—The Cleveland Browns want taxpayers to foot half the bill for either a proposed $2.4 billion dome stadium in Brook Park or a $1 billion renovation of their existing stadium in downtown Cleveland, according to sources familiar with the discussions. While no plan has yet been agreed upon, the public’s share of those costs – $1.2 billion for a domed stadium in Brook Park or $500 million to renovate the Browns’ lakefront stadium – would be split between the state, county, and either the city of Brook Park or city of Cleveland, respectively, multiple sources said.
Lawmakers who attended last Wednesday’s group meeting said Browns representatives took steps to limit the spread of the information they presented, not giving lawmakers any written handouts about their proposals and asking attendees not to use their cell phones so that no pictures of the Brook Park stadium renderings would be leaked.
The renderings showed a rectangular domed stadium set 80 feet into the ground, so as not to interfere with planes from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which sits adjacent to the site the team is eyeing as an option for the dome, according to meeting attendees. “It looked pretty fabulous,” said one of the attendees, Republican state Rep. Gayle Manning of North Ridgeville.
Lawmakers said they were told the Browns want the stadium to be used during the NFL off-season for concerts and other events.
The Browns representatives also laid out plans for building an extensive entertainment district of bars, restaurants, hotels and condos around the new stadium, lawmakers said. Most of that development would be privately funded, according to a source familiar with the plans.
Team representatives talked more about the Brook Park plans than the alternative of renovating the existing Cleveland Browns Stadium, lawmakers said, though they were told that a dome would not be able to be built on top of the existing stadium for financial and structural reasons.
