Cleveland Browns building a new dome stadium

[The Jokeman]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

The debate is over. It was a stupid decision.

Blame Erie County for being cheap. 

[brianthomas]

The addition of a dome or retractable roof goes beyond just football. It allows the city to utilize the facility all year round for other events.

This probably wont be too popular here but 1 of the criticisms for the BILLS design is that we're essentially spending $2-3 Billion on a building that will only get used 10 times a year. It's just never made any financial sense. For the BILLS it will of course, they're happy. And for the companies that gain contracts to service the stadium sure, they have a seat at the trough. But for everyone else it wont. Thats always been 1 of my main gripes. Its just a failure of imagination & of foresight & local planning... you know, the Buffalo way.

 

An example for something better? Sure, but i'm no engineer or development planner, but Buffalo has needed a new Convention Center for decades but the cost to build a new one is too prohibitive... as Buffalo is a bit economically depressed. A little bit of planning could've incorporated the 2, getting more bang for the tax payers buck, where funding is always short. Thats just 1 idea that would provide more value to the stadium & area... i'm sure one could think of 10 other ideas better than this. 

 

One thing lost in this discussion is that the funding for this stadium means less funding for other projects that would go to improving the lives of everyday New Yorkers. In areas that dont receive much funding for development projects, spending Billions on a building to only use it a few hours per day, 10 days a year... just doesnt make much sense. It just never has & likely never will.

[papazoid]

14 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

this is awesome. 
 

they are paying $2.4 B for this and we are paying $2.1 B for our roofless stadium!  Just nuts.

 

their $2.4 will end up over $3.0

15 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Blame Erie County for being cheap. 

 

a downtown stadium would still be tied up in the courts over eminent domain and enviromental impact studies. orchard park stadium will be complete before a downtown stadium even starts....but i still say it should have went downtown with a retractable roof and combined convention center

[PromoTheRobot]

36 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Blame Erie County for being cheap. 

 

I blame everyone for not starting new stadium construction sooner. They waited until the worst possible economic situation. It's not like the current stadium didn't need to be replaced 5-10 years ago.

Edited yesterday at 05:23 PM by PromoTheRobot

[Whites Bay]

36 minutes ago, brianthomas said:

An example for something better? Sure, but i'm no engineer or development planner, but Buffalo has needed a new Convention Center for decades but the cost to build a new one is too prohibitive... as Buffalo is a bit economically depressed. A little bit of planning could've incorporated the 2, getting more bang for the tax payers buck, where funding is always short.

To this point, Google "Messe Duesseldorf", click on the Google Maps image, and look at "Merkur Spiel-Arena".  The Messe is a gigantic convention facility (it's like 15-16 halls), and a luxury/business hotel and stadium are built right into the complex on the banks of the Rhine.  A bit grandiose for Buffalo, to be certain.  But as a concept?  Been there, done that.  And it's in use 52 weeks a year.

[ddaryl]

20 hours ago, papazoid said:

 

their $2.4 will end up over $3.0

 

 

 

With Tariffs and American made steel etc.. My guess is well over $4 Billion
 

we shall see @Beast American made products will not be cheap or cheaper


I'm going to addd to this post. I also do not believe the $2.4 billn price tag, and believe you can not build a dome stadium for less than $3 Biilion

Edited 10 hours ago by ddaryl

[Augie]

I’m sure something, some where, some time came in on budget, right? 

 

 

Yeah….probably not and especially if the government was involved in any way.

[WotAGuy]

Wonder what the state income tax take is for having around 10 NFL games each year?  Does it make a dent in the state commitment for the construction?

[SoCal Deek]

15 hours ago, Augie said:

I’m sure something, some where, some time came in on budget, right? 

 

 

Yeah….probably not and especially if the government was involved in any way.

All of my government funded projects came in on budget….and there were literally hundreds of them.  They had to. It was written into the contract. That doesn’t mean they didn’t experience escalation and change orders during construction, but they were always under the originally capped funding allocation. 

[Just Jack]

On 3/19/2025 at 11:13 AM, MikePJ76 said:

Dome stadiums are the worst.  I have no idea why everyone loves them so much.  

 

and the teams with domes never open the roofs like they say they will.  

 

The first game of the Toronto series was a pre-season game against the Steelers. Driving in, you could see the roof was open before the game, because it was a great summer afternoon, sunny and warm.  At some point before the game started it was decided to close the roof.  Not sure why, because there was no weather issues, like rain, coming in.