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Erik Drost/FlickrCC
FirstEnergy Stadium during renovations in 2014
Of the myriad questions surrounding plans to renovate FirstEnergy Stadium, there's one that immediately rises to the top for the civic-minded: Who's going to pay for it?
While figures are still in the estimate and guesstimate phase —
Brent Larkin last week reported the most recent plans call for a renovation costing north of $500 million, closer to $1 billion — the conversations about subsidies and public backlash to said subsidies are already beginning. How much should the public contribute? And which part of the public?
The city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are clearly going to be on the hook for some portion, and likely the state of Ohio too.
But as Larkin floated last year and in last weekend's column, and as Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin told WEWS in a recent interview, Cleveland may go knocking on its neighbors' doors for help.
“I believe there’s going to have to be a lot of creativity, we’re going to have to have a lot of conversations with our adjoining counties as well as Cuyahoga County council and the county executive,"
Griffin told the station. “Everybody, the county and quite frankly the region and the state all need to look at what does this asset mean for our region.”
(Relatedly, in terms of who uses the stadium: In the midst of negotiations for the Q Deal, Cavs officials said 70 percent of attendees at games don’t live in Cuyahoga County and 90 percent don’t live in Cleveland. For other arena events such as concerts and Disney, the numbers are higher — 74 percent of attendees don't live in Cuyahoga County and 95 percent don't live in Cleveland. The numbers for attendees at Browns games and FirstEnergy Stadium concerts are likely similar, if not more skewed.)
In interviews Tuesday with Scene, some officials in the adjoining five counties expressed both curiosity and hesitation at the idea of subsidizing Browns Stadium 2.0.
John Plecnik, a Lake County commissioner, said that he's intrigued by the idea of the team and stadium as a regional asset. (Eastlake's construction of Lake County Captains Classic Park was done entirely with public money —
$35 million — as well as a recent $4.3 million renovation. And without tax hikes, he said.)
Though he's not been approached by anyone involved yet, he would want to see more direct upside before entertaining any kind of deal.
"Well, for this to happen responsibly, we'd have to be included in the benefit," Plecnik said. "If there was Browns training or employees in Lake County, we're always open to economic development and bringing that in, and we have a lot of Browns fans in Lake County. But I would want to see how our county would be included in the benefit going forward if we were going to consider that seriously."
Over in Medina, County Administrator Scott Miller agreed.
"Honestly, this is the first I've heard of it," Miller told Scene, regarding the idea of Medina County being part of a multi-county subsidy solution. "In the end, that would be a decision the board has to make. And the question would be, 'How does this benefit Medina?'"
"We are not aware of any proposed subsidy," Greta Johnson, a spokeswoman for Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, told Scene. "I could not comment on if there's any benefit at all before seeing the ask."
Representatives in Lorain County and Geauga County did not return numerous calls for comment.
The Browns retain about 96 percent of their season ticket holders year over year. And, while the public waits for the release of the Browns' official feasibility study on FirstEnergy stadium renovations and a firmer estimate on the cost, the Haslams continue to amass wealth, recently plopping down $875 million to purchase a minority share of the Milwaukee Bucks.
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