 | |
 Pontiac Silverdome in 2011 | |
 | |
| Former names | Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium (1975–1976) Pontiac Silverdome (1976–2013)[5][note 1] |
|---|---|
| Address | 1200 Featherstone Road |
| Location | Pontiac, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 42°38′45″N 83°15′18″W / 42.64583°N 83.25500°W |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Triple Sports & Entertainment |
| Capacity | 82,000+[6] 80,311 (American football, soccer) |
| Record attendance | 93,682 September 18, 1987 (Catholic Mass with Pope John Paul II) |
| Surface | |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 19, 1973 |
| Opened | |
| Closed |
|
| Demolished | December 4, 2017 – March 2018 |
| Construction cost | US$55.7 million ($382 million in 2023 dollars[4]) |
| Architect |
|
| Structural engineer | Geiger Berger Associates |
| General contractor | Barton Malow[3] |
| Tenants | |
| Detroit Lions (NFL) (1975–2001) Detroit Pistons (NBA) (1978–1988) Detroit Express (NASL) (1978–1980) Michigan Panthers (USFL) (1983–1984) Cherry Bowl (NCAA) (1984–1985) Motor City Bowl (NCAA) (1997–2001) Detroit Mechanix (AUDL) (2012) | |
The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the first use of the architectural technique in a major athletic facility. With a seating capacity of 82,600+, it was the largest stadium in the National Football League (NFL) until FedExField in Landover, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. expanded its capacity to over 85,000 in 2000.
It was primarily the home of the Detroit Lions of the NFL from 1975 to 2001 and was also home to the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1978 to 1988. In addition, the Silverdome also served as the home venue for the Detroit Express of the North American Soccer League and the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League, as well as two college bowl games: the Cherry Bowl and the Motor City Bowl. In 2012, the Silverdome served as the home venue of the Detroit Mechanix of the American Ultimate Disc League and hosted the league championship game that season.
The stadium was a regular concert venue and hosted a number of athletic and non-athletic events, including the 1979 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XVI, WrestleMania III, early round games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and regional games in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
After the opening of Ford Field in 2002, the stadium was left without a permanent tenant. The city of Pontiac was unable to find a good use for the stadium, leaving it empty for eight years; the city ran out of money, and was forced to sell due to the rising maintenance costs. After multiple attempts to solicit redevelopment plans, the city eventually sold the stadium at auction in 2009 with no reserve for $550,000 (less than 1% of the cost to build the dome) to Andreas Apostolopoulos. The property had fallen into disrepair brought on by the city's financial crises, and the city of Pontiac's inability to afford to spend the necessary capital investments it required. After a significant financial investment by the new owners, the facility was brought back to its original glory. The millions of dollars invested by the new owners were needed to bring The Silverdome back to a safe and clean facility. The Pontiac Silverdome reopened in 2010 and hosted many events, including soccer matches, concerts, HBO championship boxing, monster truck shows and many more. The harsh Michigan weather eventually got the best of the aging venue, and in 2013 an excessive amount of snow caused a portion of the antiquated roof system to tear. The Pontiac Silverdome's roof issues dated back to the 1980s with a long list of weather related problems. The Pontiac Silverdome's uniqueness was also its downfall. As one of the last air supported football stadiums left, it was not possible to find a qualified company capable of repairing the damaged roof. Paired with the financial woes of the city, which included the inability to pay for police, emergency services and road maintenance, the decision to close the facility for good was made in 2013. The owners later auctioned the stadium's contents in 2014 and for a few years the parking lot was home to tens of thousands of recalled Volkswagen vehicles.
In 2017, the Silverdome owner decided to tear down the closed facility. The upper ring of the stadium, which had supported the roof structure, was imploded on December 4, 2017, after a failed attempt the previous day.[7] Following the implosion, the remains of the stadium were brought down in sections with hydraulic excavators, and the last free standing section was felled by late March 2018.[8] In September 2019, it was announced that Amazon would develop the site.[9]
- ^ "Silverdome Fun Facts". Silverdomeevents.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
- ^ "Silverdome plans unveiled". Daily Tribune. Royal Oak. March 12, 2010. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Company History & Heritage". Barton Malow. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "The Argus-Press – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ Mark Guarino (March 12, 2010). "New life for Pontiac Silverdome: First up, monster trucks". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Demolition executive says wiring to blame in failed Pontiac Silverdome implosion". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
- ^ Broda, Natalie. "Final wall of Silverdome falls, demo to be done by November". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
- ^ Hicks, Mark. "Amazon eyes Silverdome site for distribution center; 1,500 jobs expected, officials say". Detroit News. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).