Cleveland Cavaliers Want the Public to Go 50-50 on Arena Renovations

"The Cleveland Cavaliers have quietly suggested evenly splitting with Cuyahoga County the cost of a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the exterior of Quicken Loans Arena as part of a project to increase the building's square footage," reports Andrew J. Tobias.  

"The team's plan would expand the building's footprint, creating more public space inside  -- and additional opportunities to sell concessions and other items -- and giving the concrete building a glass exterior," according to the article's sources. And the team, like so many other professional sports franchises in the United States, is looking for public money to help get the renovation done. The team has asked that the county pay half of the project's $140 million price tag, " by borrowing money through the issuance of bonds, and by using revenues from the county's 'sin tax,' a countywide tax on alcohol and cigarettes, a 20-year extension of which county voters approved last May."

Quicken Loans Arena, also known as The Q, was built in 1994. The project was made possible, along with Progressive Field (formerly named Jacobs Field and the home of the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team), by $120 million borrowed by the county. The county still owes $55 million on that debt, according to the article.