Cleveland Building Official Says No Threat in First Energy Stadium

Cleveland officials addressed the materials used to build First Energy Stadium Thursday.

Some of the panels used on the outside of the stadium are similar to the ones on the Grenfell apartment building in London, the site of a fire that killed 80 last month.

The city’s Chief Building Official Thomas Vanover says that while the panels are comparable, there are many differences between First Energy Stadium and the Grenfell.

“This building is a fully non-combustible construction," Vanover said. "The cladding is mounted to the outside of a concrete wall. There is zero risk to the fans – and I can say that with confidence from this cladding.”

Vanover emphasized that the stadium panels do not have the highly combustible insulation that the London building did, and that the restrictive building codes for the State of Ohio prevent such incidents.

There are no plans to remove the panels.