Cleveland and Cuyahoga County leaders say they will no longer work with the Greater Cleveland Partnership after the group’s executive committee endorsed a Browns’ stadium in Brook Park.
The move is the latest escalation in a fight over the future of Browns’ stadium that has divided Cleveland’s business and civic community.
Mayor Justin Bibb and County Executive Chris Ronayne upbraided the regional chamber of commerce in a letter Wednesday. They wrote that they were pulling out of task force meetings with GCP focused on the airport, development and the area’s civic vision.
“It has become apparent that GCP does not value its relationship with local leaders and is not acting in the best interests of the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, or Northeast Ohio,” the letter read.
Earlier this week, GCP’s executive committee gave its nod of approval to the Browns’ plans for a new $2.4 billion roofed stadium in Brook Park. The committee is made up of area business leaders, including Browns owner Dee Haslam.
According to a statement from GCP, some members of the committee recused themselves because of conflicts. The statement did not say who did so.
The statement called the Browns’ Brook Park proposal “transformative.” It also applauded the city’s plan to develop the Lake Erie shoreline and Cuyahoga Riverfront, suggesting a Brook Park deal and the team should contribute more than $150 million to the city’s efforts.
“While a downtown dome is ideal, financial and development constraints have been challenging; the Brook Park option is more practical to move forward,” the statement released by GCP earlier this week reads. “The additional events, and expected growth in live entertainment, are an economic opportunity for the entire region.”
Bibb and Ronayne, however, called the Brook Park idea an “unneeded entertainment district that competes with downtown.”
Both leaders have pushed for the team to renovate the city-owned lakefront stadium. That project could cost $1.2 billion, with the city offering $461 million for construction and repairs. Ronayne has said that Cuyahoga County will not issue $600 million in bonds to help finance a Brook Park stadium.
Ohio lawmakers are considering putting the state on the line for another $600 million that would help cover the public’s half of the $2.4 billion project. Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget office called the proposal “risky” in a report in late March, a conclusion that the Browns’ ownership contested.
The Greater Cleveland Partnership has not yet responded to the letter.