IN BRIEF : No Dome on the Range, Braves Say

If Atlanta succeeds in building a domed stadium for the football Falcons, the president of the baseball Braves says his team will be forced to leave the city.

Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young disputes that conclusion, saying Braves President Stan Kasten is “still trying to build up some concern.”

“If the dome is a reality, then the Braves are outta here,” said Kasten, who has met with suburban government officials to discuss the possibility of moving the National League team to an outlying area.

There has been little suggestion that the team would leave the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves and Falcons share 22-year-old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

Falcons owner Rankin Smith Sr. has said he will not renew his team’s lease and will move elsewhere unless a new stadium is built.

Private efforts to finance the $180-million domed stadium have fallen through, but the state has taken over the project and Gov. Joe Frank Harris has supported it in his budget recommendations.