Just a few weeks removed from picking up potential future stars at the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns are reportedly eyeing a new future home stadium for team and are exploring the options of either renovating a downtown development or building an entirely new facility.
The news came from ESPN, where Browns owner Dee Haslam revealed the team has been conducting a study along with Cleveland State University about a potential move that looks at the development of some of the city’s under used areas.
“I don’t know that we’re ready to start the conversation, but we are ready to get all the information we can about what’s possible,” Haslam told ESPN.
“I think it’s really important to find out what’s possible. There could be a lot of great ideas that we might not be able to do because it’s not feasible for one reason or another.
“I don’t want to get the cart before the horse until we’re knowledgeable enough to know, because we’re not informed enough to know right now. But we do know that we have a desire to make a bigger impact on the future of Cleveland.”
But fans shouldn’t get too excited or worried just yet. The FirstEnergy Stadium, which was built in 1999 and recently had a US$125m renovation, will still be the home of the Browns until 2029 as the team will play through their lease.
Planning ahead of this the team will be keen to assess what options it has, whether that’s another renovation and re-lease of its current stadium or a new build that incorporates a totally new design such as a roof to keep out harsh Ohio winters.
Credit: WikiCommons-JonRidinger
May 9, 2018
