Prospective Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam III "has not committed to adding a retractable roof to Cleveland Browns Stadium, but he assured members of Cleveland City Council that he’ll explore the possibility," according to Nate Ulrich of the AKRON BEACON JOURNAL. In a meet-and-greet yesterday, Council member Michael Polensek said that he "hopes the city and Haslam can hold future discussions about the possibility, if there is one, of attaching a roof to the lakefront stadium." Haslam said, "We are completely open-minded, and we want to provide really two things: one, a great experience for our fans at a Browns game; the other thing, secondly ... we want to use that facility as much as we possibly can, want to use it more than we can now. So anything that helps us do that, I’m certainly not at all saying we’re gonna do that, but we’ll certainly take a look at it." Browns coach Pat Shurmur said, "I like the setting that we present on game day here. I’m not really trying to visualize anything different at this point. ... I think some of the charm of, at least of what I’ve experienced so far here in Cleveland, is kind of the late-season, wintry setting." Ulrich notes Haslam yesterday also "attended practice in the afternoon at the team’s headquarters and later participated in a conference call with former and current suite and season-ticket holders." Shurmur said, "He is around quite a bit. He just spent a lot of money for a football team, and he wants to get to know us" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 9/20).
