ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Ten days remain before the long-awaited start of arbitration hearings over the Edward Jones Dome.

An arbitrator could decide by late February or early March exactly what needs to be done to make the Dome a top-tier NFL facility. From there, the Rams and St. Louis City officials will negotiate what to actually do and who pays for what.

“I think people really feel what we can become and all of that, in the backdrop of the arbitration, leads me to believe that we can come up with a very successful resolution to all the issues facing us,” Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff said Thursday.

Demoff would love a Dome worthy of Super Bowls, Olympics trials, Final Fours and other major sporting events. “This is not just about the Rams, this is about what makes St. Louis a better place to live.”

“My hope is, to be honest, that the arbitrators come up with a ruling, the CVC accepts it, and we can put this arbitration issue to rest. Maybe that makes me an eternal optimist,” he said.

But what if the St. Louis Convention and Visitor’s Commission does not accept the plan or cannot come up with the money for Dome renovations? “Then, you’re basically where every other city is that’s heading toward a lease,” Demoff said, adding that a “multitude of ideas” would then come into play.

Among those ideas would be a new stadium, though Demoff says he’s hopeful it would be in St. Louis, not in Los Angeles.