Cleveland Browns, city unveil plan connecting stadium, downtown

The Browns and the City of Cleveland are thinking of ways to unite the lakefront with downtown and bring in additional commercial business to the lakefront area.  

The City of Cleveland and the Cleveland Browns have unveiled a plan to build a grand elevated park that would finally bring together downtown and the lakefront including FirstEnergy Stadium, according to a story appearing in Cleveland.com by Robert Higgs.

Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approached Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson with the concept of an artificially elevated parkway linking Mall C, by St Clair Avenue, to North Coast Harbor and First Energy Harbor. Currently, FirstEnergy Stadium, as well as Great Lakes Science Center, William G. Mather Steamship, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, are almost cut off from downtown, bisected by the Shoreway.

This fan is just a slow kid from Berea, not much of a businessperson, but let’s ask some of the business-savvy fans out there: How much business would you guess these attractions actually bring to downtown?

It almost seems like they might take business away from downtown because they are completely separate. On the other hand, if the city can unite the lakefront with downtown, it might really revolutionize the experience of going downtown.

According to Higgs, the Browns have retained Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects to produce initial drawings. It’s not a done deal, but something that is just in the initial planning stages.

The basic concept is that an elevated green land bridge would connect Mall C, the Science Center, Stadium, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Residential buildings, office, retail, and hotel space would be built underneath, especially in the lakefront area. The southern portion of the land bridge would access Amtrak and RTA stations.

This may give Cleveland a chance to correct something that they have always been bad at. Public transportation always seems to stop short of its goal, making the people walk half a mile or more to get to their true destination. Hopefully, in this design, they will get it right and actually have the public transportation go to the place that the people want to go to.

The proposed project is going to cost quite a bit of money, something on the order of the payroll of the Browns team, but on the other hand, there can obviously be a great economic opportunity if it is done right. If they can get more people to stay in downtown hotels, and eat in downtown restaurants when they visit the Lakefront, this could be a great opportunity.

Anyway, the Browns stadium lease renewal is coming up in 2028, which seems like a long time from now, but it will happen before you know it. In today’s NFL, the signing of a stadium lease always means there is going to be some investment from both sides. The real question is whether the two sides can agree upon a course of action that will create value for both sides.

Maybe they can get Baker Mayfield to invest in it in lieu of cash on his next contract, do you think?

If they can find a way to pay for it, it sounds like a great idea, and in fact, it makes you wonder why they did not do this in 1970. It will be interesting to see how the process evolves.