BY The Associated Press
CLEVELAND -- Construction of the new Browns stadium is running $33 million over budget, but Mayor Michael R. White said Tuesday the city will not have to pay more than it has already committed.
The stadium where the expansion Browns are scheduled to play starting in August 1999 was supposed to cost $247 million.
But the current overruns would increase the stadium's price tag to $280 million. Contract bids for the stadium's construction have consistently been higher than expected, White said.
Speaking at a news conference adjacent to the city's construction site, White said the overruns will be partially covered by a $15 million grant from the NFL and $12 million the city had already set aside for overruns on the project.
The mayor said his staff is looking at several alternatives on how to come up with the remaining $6 million budget gap. White said he will not ask city council or the state for any more money than they have already committed to the project.
The old Cleveland team moved to Baltimore after the 1995 season. In a related matter, hot water will be added to the stadium plans for $500,000. After word spread recently that hot water was not going to be installed in the stadium, the mayor said he received 122 complaining letters.
"It is an act we ought to take on behalf of the fans," White said. NFL owners meeting in Dallas this week were expected to discuss the cost of the new Browns.
Six groups are known to be bidding for ownership of the team. Most estimates have placed the cost of the Cleveland franchise around $350 million, although Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer told reporters Monday he thought the team was worth $1 billion.
That's too much, the Cleveland mayor said.
"Anyone who would suggest for a moment that this franchise ought to go for a billion dollars I'd say is either dreaming or gouging," White said.
NFL coverage from Associated Press
