Bill Krueger, whose company performed an economic impact study about the project, told The Canton Repository in 2015 the development could be a “game changer” for not only “our local and regional economy, but all of Northeast Ohio.”

Dateline for an Origin Story

What would become the National Football League was founded in 1920, at a Canton car dealership. Jim Thorpe was elected its first president, and the Canton Bulldogs won two early championships. Financial troubles and the city’s small size caused the Bulldogs to fold in 1927, but Canton’s place at the heart of the game was secured in 1963, when the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in town.

For the next 50 years, the Hall of Fame existed as a museum next to a small stadium — owned by the local school district — that attracted football enthusiasts and the N.F.L. once a year for its induction ceremony and preseason game. Then four years ago, the Hall of Fame announced a plan for a $25 million stadium upgrade, with the possibility of additional development.

In 2015, the Hall of Fame unveiled an expanded plan for what had become a $476 million Hall of Fame Village. An economic development report commissioned by the Hall projected a completion date of 2019, one million visitors by 2020 and three million by 2025.

Months later, the complete rebuilding of Tom Benson Stadium began. The old Fawcett Stadium was renamed after the late owner of the New Orleans Saints when he donated $11 million toward construction. Much of that work was completed in time for an unveiling ceremony at the 2017 Hall of Fame game in August, though construction in one end of the stadium remains incomplete. The rebuild has cost at least $150 million so far.

Laborers worked double shifts and on weekends to get the stadium ready for the Hall of Fame game. Then, in September, contractors working on the stadium received only 60 percent of what they were owed, according to John Ross, a lawyer for four of the contractors. In January, the contractors filed liens against the project.