‘It’s exciting to be an option’: Brook Park mayor speaks to I-Team about potential for Cleveland Browns domed stadium

BROOK PARK, Ohio (WJW) — The Brook Park mayor just revealed to the FOX 8 I-Team some of what’s going on behind the talk of a possible new home for the Cleveland Browns.

“It’s exciting to be an option,” Mayor Ed Orcutt told the I-Team on Tuesday.

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The Browns are considering making major renovations to the existing stadium on the lakefront, or building a domed stadium in Brook Park near the airport. The mayor believes a dome in his town could be better for fans than going downtown — better for the region, too.

“The experience would be enhanced,” Orcutt added. “Fans would be able to tailgate and walk to the stadium, instead of walking and taking maybe an hour to get to your seat. I think it would be exciting for the region to have a dome and have more events here to attract people from other cities.”

Just this week, the Browns’ general manager threw out support for a dome.

The city of Cleveland, however, is still negotiating to keep the Browns downtown. We are told the city leaders are expected to meet with team officials again next week.

The I-Team asked to speak to Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne about the project. We were told no interviews would be conducted. The county’s communications team released the following statement:

“Cuyahoga County is not a party to the negotiations between the city of Cleveland and Haslam Sports Group. At this time, we believe that downtown Cleveland is the best location for the stadium.”

The Brook Park mayor insisted he is not trying to “steal” the team. He said a domed stadium could cost billions of dollars, and who would pay for what is still not decided.

“So those kinds of things are being worked out behind the scenes,” the mayor added. “I’m going to be very limited in what I can say with information on that.”

The I-Team has shown you the Browns have had meetings with state lawmakers, talking about possible help paying for a stadium project. The governor has told us the state will help pay.

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The Brook Park mayor wants to make sure his town could cover the cost of security, traffic control and upkeep of a dome. The I-Team has reported Cleveland has had a special fund for emergency repairs and other work, sometimes costing millions of dollars.

“We’re putting schedules together to see what the stadium will look like,” the mayor said. He said he has not yet seen any final proposal for a dome.

Sources told us funding for the project proposes a public-private partnership, with the public portion coming from tax revenue generated by the project, which will be enabled by the private investment.

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