The Pontiac Silverdome stadium in Michigan was once hailed as the finest in the world when it opened in 1975. It hosted major events for decades but fell into disrepair after losing its main tenants in the 1980s and 90s. The stadium struggled financially and was sold for just $583,000 in 2009. It continued deteriorating with roof collapses in 1985 and 2013. The Silverdome came to symbolize the decline of Detroit and its auto industry. Demolition of the abandoned eyesore began in December 2017. It had been used recently only for storage despite hopes it could spark redevelopment. The last event was a BMX competition in 2015, with the rider noting “it’s like a war zone.”
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Wow. I remember playing old NFL video games and this being the Lions’ stadium. Weird to see it looking like this.
I grew up watching a Bigfoot (the monster truck) VHS and there was a section that took place there and you could hear the announcer really clearly. 100% a core memory of mine.
i mean, everything except the roof actually still looks kinda usable
Take the roof off and you’ve got a ready-made outdoor arena for whatever events. Concerts, horse shows, monster trucks, garden shows, 4-H, whatever else is outside.
Why is it just sitting disused? How is that economically better than using it for something, even if it’s not perfect? I mean hell, you could use this space as a hydroponic farm and it would still be a better use of the space and structure than just being abandoned.
It’s not sitting disused. It was torn down about 5 years ago and Amazon opened a distribution center on the site in 2021.
So it sat disused for however long and then got torn down entirely so other shit we don’t need could be built…
That’s… actually much worse than it still being there and potentially still useable… how wasteful.
I really sick there on my birthday while attending a Pistons game. I was about 8 years old.
[Off topic?]
Loren Estleman’s Detroit novels are a great history of the Motor City.
‘Whiskey River’ covers Prohibition Era, Edsel is about Ford’s biggest blunder, and King of The Corner covers the 1990s.
