Cleveland Stadium

==Demise==
As the stadium aged and maintenance costs increased, the facility became an economic drain on the City of Cleveland, which owned and originally operated it. In 1973, then-Browns owner Art Modell signed a 25-year lease to operate Cleveland Municipal Stadium.<ref name="SIMunson1"/> Modell's newly formed company, Stadium Corporation, assumed the expenses of operations from the city, freeing up tax revenue for other purposes.<ref name=henkel102>{{harvnb|Henkel|2005|p=102}}</ref> Also, Modell would pay an annual rent of $150,000 for the first five years and $200,000 afterward to the city. In exchange, Modell would receive all revenue generated by the stadium. Stadium Corp invested in improvements, including new electronic scoreboards and [[luxury suite]]s.<ref name="SIMunson1">{{cite magazine|title=A Busted Play|first=Lester|last=Munson|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1007507/index.htm|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=December 4, 1995|access-date=May 19, 2011|archive-date=November 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104070721/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1007507/index.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the stadium's inadequacy was becoming apparent in any event; chunks of concrete were falling off and the pilings were starting to petrify.<ref>{{cite news |title=Inside the Browns Deal|first=Jon|last=Morgan|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bal-modell121795,0,7910265.story|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|date=December 17, 1995|access-date=July 1, 2008}}</ref>

Modell, mistakenly believing that his revenues were not endangered, refused to participate in the [[Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex|Gateway Project]] that built [[Jacobs Field|a new ballpark]] for the Indians and [[Gund Arena|a new arena]] for the [[Cleveland Cavaliers|Cavaliers]].<ref name=ModellRefuse>{{cite news |title=Art Modell Was Offered a Stadium for the Cleveland Browns and Passed|first=Mark|last=Naymik|url=http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2012/09/art_modell_gateway_stadium.html|newspaper=[[The Plain Dealer]]|location=Cleveland|date=September 13, 2012|access-date=October 3, 2012}}</ref> Modell's assumptions proved incorrect, and Stadium Corp.'s suite revenues declined sharply when the Indians moved from the stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994.<ref name=henkel102/> The following year, Modell announced plans to [[Cleveland Browns relocation controversy|move the Browns]] to [[Baltimore]] after the [[1995 NFL season|1995 season]].

Modell's move of the Browns breached the team's lease, and the City of Cleveland sued.  As part of the settlement, the city agreed to demolish Cleveland Stadium and build a new stadium on the same site. Modell agreed to leave the Browns' name, colors, and history in Cleveland, and the NFL agreed to have a resurrected Browns team by 1999, either by relocation or expansion. Demolition on Cleveland Stadium began in November 1996 and was completed in early 1997. {{Convert|15000|ST}} of demolition debris was dumped into Lake Erie to create three [[artificial reef]]s for fishermen and divers, offshore of Cleveland and neighboring Lakewood. Construction on the new stadium began later in 1997 and it opened in August 1999 as [[Cleveland Browns Stadium]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Ohio Coastal Atlas |url=https://coastal.ohiodnr.gov/portals/coastal/pdfs/atlas/CH1_introduction.pdf |publisher=[[Ohio Department of Natural Resources]] |access-date=October 4, 2016 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Stadium finds new life as a lake reef |url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/08/19/loc_stadium_finds_new.html |newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] |author=Wendling, Mike |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=August 19, 1999 |access-date=October 4, 2016}}</ref>
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