CINCINNATI — Two weeks after Hamilton County leaders announced they'd look into the possibility of constructing a dome on Paycor Stadium, concepts were unveiled Tuesday proposing modern designs and new event opportunities.
But if the county wants an enclosed stadium, it'll come at a $1 billion cost.
"While it was a good, smart move to investigate this just a little bit ... absent an additional revenue source or an income stream, it would be, from a financial perspective, very challenging to enclose Paycor Stadium," Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said at Tuesday's Board of Commissioner's staff meeting.
The presentation of the dome designs follows September's presentation for a $1.25 billion master renovation plan, which proposed large-scale upgrades and additions to the stadium, including a massive retooling of the stadium’s north end zone sections.
September's plan did not include a dome, ruled out then as too costly by county officials. However, because an enclosed stadium expands the opportunity for more concerts and events in colder months, commission president Alicia Reece did not want to outright dismiss the idea.
She and the board then directed county administration to commission a survey. Reece and fellow commissioners Denise Driehaus and Stephanie Summerow Dumas got their first look at the results during Tuesday's meeting.
The 10-page presentation was limited, providing renderings of a main concept design and a cheaper, alternative design. The latter would still cost north of $900 million to construct.
Commissioners said even if they wanted to move forward with the project, they don't have the money to cover it. The county owns Paycor Stadium, and the only source of funding for it is the Riverfront Sales Tax Fund. That leaves the county with a limited cash flow.
"We're not looking at increasing any local taxes," Reece said Tuesday.
The stadium's unique elliptical shape is not designed to support a dome, so reconfiguring the necessary systems to accommodate one would be challenging, Aluotto said.
"And just the conditioning of the building for all seasons and uses, when you take an open-air stadium and enclose it, it's not just about enclosing it, it's about changing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems to make sure it can operate in an enclosed environment as it did when it was open-air," Aluotto said.
Driehaus agreed with Alutto, echoing that adding a dome is not financially feasible for the county considering the tens of millions of dollars already invested into the stadium and the necessary capital improvement repairs still scheduled to be completed.
"We've got a limited funding source. We've got a lot of stuff to do in the stadium. We've got two studies to prove it and from my vantage point we just can't afford it," she said. "And I have not heard people clamoring for a dome ... I think we got a report that says less than half the stadiums in the country have domes, so while there are some that are contemplating it, not all do and so I don't know that we'd be an outlier if we don't do a dome."
Dumas used fewer words to express her opinion on the possibility of a dome. She said it simply comes down to dollars and cents.
"We just don't have it. It's simple for me. You can see that we don't have it. It would be nice to have it," she said. "But for me, forget about a dome. That's where I am."
Despite overwhelming disinterest from her peers in entertaining a dome possibility further, Reece said she wasn't willing to throw in the towel. She wants to have more conversations with county administration and the Bengals before any final decisions are made.
Reece said corporate investors and sponsors are already funding renovations inside the stadium that commissioners did not vote on and she's looking to those entities to step up and help lower future project costs for taxpayers.
"I don't think Cleveland is better than Cincinnati and they running with a dome. Tennesee is running with indoor and these are all our tourism competitors," she said. "I don't want to be the 'Can't do it' group on everything but then when the big boys come in, we're the 'Can do it' group," said Reece. "We're a county that's been bringing in big ideas. We're trying to bring the big Sundance Film Festival. We're finalists. We done brought Blink here. That's international. We done brought the All-Star Game here, so we can't be the community that says, 'We just can't make it happen. It's gloom and doom.'"
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