It’s now apparently a done deal.
The Browns are going to build that domed stadium in Brook Park, near Hopkins Airport, and begin playing there in the 2029 season.
All this is to the surprise of absolutely no one. It was just a matter of time. Indeed, this began to be a done deal when, after completing the purchase of the Browns from Randy Lerner just as training camp was beginning in late July 2012, Jimmy Haslam stood in the middle om the complex of practice fields at team headquarters and spent a long time surveying everything around him. The constant snarl on his face and the furrowed brow made it clear he didn’t like very much of what he saw. He was going to change things dramatically, and he was going to waste no time getting started.
Going back to the early 1970s — even the 1960s — there had been talk of building an indoor stadium for the Browns. But no one — not even visionary Art Modell — had been able to take all that talk and turn it into action and actually get it done. Haslam had completely transformed Pilot Flying J, changing it from a struggling entity and making it a powerhouse in the world of gas stations/convenience stores. So, he knew he could get his dome built. He just needed to be patient and work through the process.
Now that he is going to begin the long-awaited construction of such sooner rather than ster, he is putting his personal stamp on the Browns. They will, four years from now, and 17 years after buying the team, cease to play on grass in freezing temperatures on the windy southern shores of Lake Erie, and start doing so in the warmth of indoors on artificial turf, far from any body of water. That was then, and this is now.
Perhaps the realization of all that will make Jimmy Haslam smile a little more.
Steve King
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