The Browns have hired Cleveland-based architectural firm Westlake Reed Leskosky to design renovations to the team’s training and administrative complex in Berea, Ohio. The project, estimated to cost $4-5M, is tied to consolidating most of the team’s employees under one roof in Berea, according to Browns Exec VP & Chief Revenue Officer Brent Stehlik. The team's front office currently is split between Berea and FirstEnergy Stadium in downtown Cleveland. The upgrades will focus on a retrofit of the facility’s second floor, creating an open floor plan by knocking down walls and installing new windows to let natural light into the building. The goal is to develop a new culture of teamwork under new team Owner Jimmy Haslam III, Stehlik said. “It needs a refresh [and] right now we’re so fragmented,” he said. “This culture we’re creating in ticket sales, sponsorship sales and the service retention departments will hopefully (spread) to the rest of the organization.” Construction starts in March and will be completed in July. During the renovation, Browns staff members will temporarily move to the first floor of the Berea building and in trailers set up outside the facility. Others will work out of the stadium where sales and marketing is currently located, Stehlik said. The Berea facility opened in '91 and was renovated in '99 and '09. Westlake Reed Leskosky previously designed a major expansion and renovation of the Pro Football HOF that opened last August.
