The first step in keeping the Rams football team in Missouri started with the St. Louis Convention and Visitor’s Bureau presenting their plan to upgrade the dome and make it a top-tier venue in the NFL.

The proposal is estimated to cost $124 million and the CVC is asking the Rams to cover more than 50% of the costs. The improvements include the following:

• Construct a 96-foot wide by 26-foot high scoreboard over midfield that should give fans clear views of replays, scores and stats and not interfere with game play, (similar to what Jerry Jones constructed for his stadium in Dallas, TX).

• Build a new, three-story structure on Baer Plaza that would be connected to the Dome with a bridge over Broadway Street. It would house a 20,000 square-foot lobby, a rooftop beer garden and an entrance for fans headed to Dome’s club seats and luxury suites.

• Install large window panels that would allow more natural light inside the Dome, to help brighten up the inside.

• Replace 1,800 existing seats and four suites with 1,500 new club seats.

• Barriers would be placed on Broadway that would shut down the street to vehicle traffic and making it safer for fans to enter and leave the Dome. The CVC said this change also would address NFL concerns that the milling crowds outside of the Dome could be a terrorist target.

The Rams will not look over the proposal and reply accordingly with the lease agreement. Many fear that owner Stan Kroenke will move the team to Los Angeles where plans are in the making to build a new football stadium. Kroenke is also one of eight bidders for the L.A. Dodgers baseball team, which may also be an indication that he is interested in moving football to southern Cal as well.

Kroenke’s sports ownership include professional the Nuggest, Avalanche and a soccer teams in Denver, as well as the London-based Arsenal Football Club, an English soccer team.