RICHMOND, Va. -- City administrators are looking to move forward with demolishing the dilapidated Richmond Coliseum with the goal of eliminating public safety risks, cutting security costs and rejuvenating the seemingly stagnant City Center redevelopment project.

Administrators are requesting that $3 million for the demo be included in the budget for fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1. The onetime cash payment is the largest requested administrative expenditure in the proposed spending plan, which City Council is reviewing ahead of an initial public hearing April 22.

While the timing for the demo is not clear, it would be funded in a fiscal year that runs through a city-imposed November deadline for the Coliseum property to be sold to a developer, as part of the City Center project that would redevelop the shuttered arena and adjacent city-owned properties.

The City Center project has not moved forward since negotiations with prospective developers got underway last year.