In an effort to land the 50th Super Bowl (in 2016), architect Bob Corna is resurrecting an idea to breathe life into lakefront development – he wants to build a roof on Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Corna, an architect who helped develop Shooters restaurant and the West Bank of the Flats, wants to pitch the National Football League on Cleveland as the site for Super Bowl L. But first, he will have to show the league that the city has a plan to build an estimated $90 million retractable roof on the city-owned stadium.
To devise such a plan – and pay for it – he will need City Council, the mayor and Browns owner Randy Lerner on board.
If he can get their backing, he wants the city to ask Cuyahoga County commissioners to pay for a study that would look at how much revenue an enclosed stadium, which could be used year-round, could generate.
Corna said future revenue could help cover a large chunk of the roof’s construction cost. The rest, he said, could be paid for by the Browns and with a parking tax, event fees and surcharges on luxury suite owners. He said he has no plans to ask taxpayers to foot the bill.
Someone once said that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Indoor football in Cleveland? That seems pretty hellish. Let’s leave that to soft teams, like the Lions, the Colts and the Vikings.
