CLEVELAND (WJW) – The Cleveland Browns have been playing their games on the shores of Lake Erie since their inception in 1946. While the Haslams appear to have momentum to build a new domed stadium in Brook Park, next to the airport, the architect and Cleveland real estate Developer Robert Corna has a lakefront development plan ready with a stadium he calls “Hexatron.”
“It creates a six-sided stadium covered with a glass roof and the roof would open,” Robert said.
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The “Hexatron” design may look familiar. He presented this idea in 1985 to the Cleveland Browns and then to the Indians to share a stadium. The idea never materialized.
Nearly 40 years later, Corna’s Hexatron plan is back, but with better lakefront plans.
“It’s about being able to build the Hexatron… you just push it into the lake about 100 meters (with landfill),” Corna added. “That’s a two-year project since they started. “Everyone wants to keep the stadium in the center.”
Once the Hexatron is built, Phase 2 of Corna’s plan would begin: tearing down the current Cleveland Browns stadium and building it.
photo by WJW
“This is his (Haslam) village. Restaurants, bars, apartments, whatever. Hotels, transportation center, but it’s all because the parking is underneath,” Corna said.
Where would you get the money for that?
“That little thing over there. The casino? Yes, that will pay for everything,” Corna said. “The economics behind this are far superior to Brook Park. Very superior.”
Corna said a retractable roof would cost $500 million. His stadium would cost about $1 billion, roughly $500 million less than what the Browns are reportedly asking to build at Brook Park.
“They have to be out of (Cleveland Browns Stadium) when the lease ends in 2028. This, without a doubt, this stadium can start now without their football schedule (being compromised). You can start tomorrow morning,” he said.
Corna has decades of experience in architecture and real estate development in Cleveland and said this plan would transform Cleveland.
“I have this vision because I think this will keep this part going and we will unite the Flats into one huge lakefront,” Corna said. “That’s the future of Cleveland.”
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Corna has yet to present his idea to the Cleveland Browns. When he gets the chance to talk to Jimmy and Dee Haslam, he’ll be ready.
“All you need is 10 minutes with me to see this,” Corna said. “He will see it. He will see it immediately. All questions found in Brook Park have been answered here. “You can’t deny how wonderful it would be to be on the oceanfront for people to live there, shop there, entertain there, gamble there, it would all tie it together, I hope you see.”
The entire Hexatron Stadium and Corna Lakefront development plan would take about five years to complete with the goal of having it all completed in time to host Super Bowl LXV in 2031.
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