COLUMBUS, Ohio — Buried deep within the over 5,000 page Ohio House Bill 33, setting up the state's budget for 2024-25, is a $62 million appropriation that reads "Local Projects."
A closer look at the "Local Projects" proposal indicates that the money would be used "to support the Cleveland Municipal Land Bridge project."
The proposal, organized by Haslam Sports Group and first revealed in May 2021, calls for a park-like land bridge over state Route 2 and the railroad tracks. The hope is to link the lakefront area around FirstEnergy Stadium, Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of downtown, specifically to the mall atop the Huntington Convention Center.
Besides the land bridge connector, the renderings also reveal development all along the water, with buildings, plazas, terraces, a playground and more.
House Bill 33 is currently in committee.
When it was first revealed, the Cleveland Municipal Land Bridge project was estimated to cost $230 million, with funds coming via a combination of private and public money. Since then, the city of Cleveland has been given $2.5 million by the Ohio Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of the land bridge, while matching that with its own $2.5 million investment.
The revelation about the proposed $62 million state investment comes amid a deep focus on the future of the city's lakefront and Cleveland Browns Stadium by Mayor Justin Bibb as well as Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam.
"Cleveland would benefit tremendously from the development of the waterfront," Jimmy Haslam told reporters at last month's NFL Owners Meetings. "Having the stadium down there seems to be in everybody's best interest. So we're committed to redoing the stadium. In all likelihood, it's not going to have a dome, but it'll be a substantial remodel of the existing facility and we're probably 3, 4, 5 years away from that happening."
In his State of the City address last week, Bibb was asked if he supported a renovation of the existing stadium or the construction of a new stadium. He was also asked if the city planned to contribute any money toward a stadium project.
"My vision right now is making sure we finally see real inclusive development on the lakefront. While we begin early conversations with the Haslams about the stadium, we want to be creative with how we address this issue because I'm no longer going to risk general revenue fund dollars for maintenance of a privately-owned football franchise," Bibb stated.
"We've got to be creative. We've got to think differently about financing. And we have to think differently about how this fits into a larger piece of making us have one of the best lakefronts in the world. That's my vision to get done as mayor."