When was pontiac silverdome built

Preliminary plans have called for deflating the dome and installing a natural grass stadium in its place, the newspaper reported. The bottom half of the Silverdome will be cut in half, according to the renderings.

Silverdome officials said last year the renovations would be "years down the road. A public hearing will be held March 15 at Pontiac City Hall for the owners of the Silverdome to present their plans in requesting the tax break before Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel and Pontiac officials.

A website for fans of professional soccer, Motor City Supporters Group, leaked two drawings of a redesign for the Silverdome to support a soccer team on its website in October. The changes include deflating the dome and installing a natural grass stadium in its place. The bottom will be cut in half. Officials for the entertainment venue have confirmed Canadian owner Andreas Apostolopoulos is working to bring a soccer team to the venue.

Apostolopoulos, who is originally from Greece, is a multimillionaire, owning properties throughout Canada. Schimmel, the emergency manager, wouldn't comment on the project, saying he is waiting to get full details at the public hearing and wants residents and local officials to attend. The Detroit News said Toronto-based Triple Properties wants the tax abatement to help finance a proposed overhaul of the year-old, 80,seat domed stadium, a lobbyist for the company said.

State-appointed manager Louis Schimmel, who now controls the city's public finances, said he needs be "wowed" to approve a tax break worth millions of dollars to a cash-starved city. He could squash the request on the spot or let the idea continue.

Jeremiah Mankopf, a partner in the Lansing-based lobbying firm called Michigan Governmental Strategy, who will represent the Silverdome owners at the public meeting, said he had not yet added up the estimated cost of all of the proposed renovations. They want to do the basic things so that it can host one event a week," he said. At the moment, Triple Properties is holding about one event a month, he said.

The percent tax break - known as a commercial rehabilitation tax exemption - has been approved recently for projects such as adding a hotel to the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mankopf said. Auburn Hills City Council also approved it earlier this year for a developer who plans to convert a former Foodland on Joslyn Road into a small business incubator.

Under the tax abatement, the tax amount would not increase while the developer does major upgrades to the facility, he said. Under the law, a tax exemption applicant must show that the completion of the renovations likely would result in new jobs and significantly boost commercial activity. He was the sole bidder. The new owner has a long-term vision of radically redesigning the Silverdome. Triple Properties eventually would like to deflate the domed roof and create a hole to let in sunlight.

It would also like to split its interior into two levels of different-size arenas, including one that would be the home of a Major League Soccer team. The request would have given the group a tax abatement on property taxes at the site. Need Tickets? Race Tracks. Alumni Stadium.

Anaheim Stadium. Arrowhead Stadium. Balboa Stadium. Bellevue Park. Busch Memorial Stadium. Candlestick Park. City Stadium. Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cotton Bowl. Comiskey Park. County Stadium. Edward Jones Dome. Fenway Park. Forbes Field. Foxboro Stadium. Frank Youell Field. Franklin Field. Fulton County Stadium.

Georgia Dome. Giants Stadium. Griffith Stadium. Hagemeister Park. Harvard Stadium. Houlihan's Stadium. Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Husky Stadium. Jeppesen Stadium. Kezar Stadium. Lambeau Field. League Park. Liberty Bowl. Memorial Stadium Baltimore. Memorial Stadium Clemson. Memorial Stadium Illinois. Metropolitan Stadium. Mile High Stadium.

Municipal Stadium. Nickerson Field. Nippert Stadium. Oakland Coliseum. Orange Bowl. Pitt Stadium. Polo Grounds. Pontiac Silverdome. Qualcomm Stadium. RCA Dome. RFK Stadium. Rice Stadium. Riverfront Stadium. Shea Stadium. After several bonds were passed allowing the team to build a stadium, the Lions bought land in nearby Pontiac, MI.

Construction on the stadium, named the Pontiac Silverdome, began on September 19, and was completed in 23 months. Opening day for the Lions at the Silverdome was on October 6, The Silverdome became the largest stadium in the NFL with a capacity of 80, Three tiers of blue seats circled the entire Astroturf playing field. The Silverdome never really recovered from the loss of its main tenant. Other sports teams attempted to make the stadium their home, yet none lasted very long. After several failed attempts, details MLive , the stadium was finally fully demolished in In September , Amazon announced their intention to build a new distribution center on the Silverdome site.

Apparently, Pontiac offered a strategic geographical location for the company. That news brought a sense of huge relief to the citizens of Pontiac, a city which had never economically recovered from the loss of the Silverdome. As of July , construction on the Amazon facilities is well underway.