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59-578: Leavey Center began life as the Harold J. Toso Pavilion , or Toso Pavilion constructed in 1975. The facility featured an air supported vinyl fabric roof supported by 11 large fans constantly producing a higher air pressure inside the dome than outside, similar to the Pontiac Silverdome or BC Place Stadium . The inside of the facility featured the main activity floor, two recreation areas, and team locker rooms. The roof developed several tears over

118-564: A "dome" to "bowl" caused all the heavy, wet snow to slide down into the bowl and rupture more roof panels, collapse some precast risers in the SW upper deck, and dislodge more plastic seats "... than a Rolling Stones concert" according to Bob Haney, the Dome's Operations Manager. Crews from Owens-Corning Fiberglas, the dome's original roof installer, were on site by 1:30 pm on March 4. Repair operations began immediately but were interrupted for over

177-468: A condo developer near the Durham Live development site, "Durham Live" will include "a massive casino, hotel, film studio, theatre, waterpark, big box retail, luxury stores, golf course, performance hall, and gourmet dining". In early March 2021, Triple Group received significant negative press for plans to rezone a protected wetland for development into an Amazon warehouse. Environmental groups filed

236-476: A court injunction to prevent the project from going forward. On March 12, Amazon announced that they were no longer considering the site for their warehouse. In November 2022, news came out that 90% of the wetland had been cleared and tilled. The Penobscot building, is a class-A office tower complex consisting of three office towers in Downtown Detroit , Michigan . The 1928 Art Deco building

295-416: 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

354-525: A possible expansion team for Major League Soccer , and contemplated renovating the Silverdome for this purpose. Ultimately, the lack of events coming into the stadium, combined with the 2013 roof collapse, put any further development plans on indefinite hold. In March 2014, the owners announced that they would be auctioning off the contents of the facility, including seats and fixtures. In December 2014, Cleveland-based photographer Johnny Joo captured

413-818: 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,

472-442: A week due to high winds. During the high winds event nearly all of the remaining panels in the deflated roof, 100 in all, were badly damaged. The decision was made to replace the entire roof and incorporate some improvements to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future. Repair cost of the roof was just under $ 8 million. The repairs were completed and the dome re-inflated at noon on May 28, 1985. A thunderstorm passed through

531-478: A wiring issue, eight of the explosive charges failed to detonate, preventing the stadium from imploding as planned. A second attempt was successful the next day. While Adamo could not pinpoint the exact cause of the issues, they did note that trespassers had been seen on the property a couple of days prior to the first attempt. It was noted that on the second attempt, Adamo doubled the amount of explosives used from 300 to 600 lb (136 to 272 kg) of TNT . By

590-662: Is best known for his ownership of the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan . The Apostolopoulos family is one of the richest Greek families in the United States and the richest Greek family in Canada. He died on 15 February 2021. Born in the port city of Kalamata , Greece , Apostolopoulos emigrated to Canada in 1969. Starting as a labourer and janitor, he progressed to owning small service and manufacturing companies, paving

649-536: Is in the process of being developed in south Pickering in the Canadian city of Pickering, Ontario . The plan received approval for development in 2017. It will contribute $ 600 million in tax revenue and $ 1 billion towards Pickering's GDP and represents the largest private investment in Pickering's history. 61% of Pickering residents voted in favor of the development. According to Universal City Condominiums,

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708-592: Is located in the heart of the Detroit Financial District . The Penobscot is a hub for the city's wireless Internet zone and fiber-optic network. The Penobscot building is on the National Register of Historical Properties and was purchased in 2012 by Triple Properties Inc. The firm purchased the building when the property was in foreclosure during Detroit's worst economic recession in history. The Penobscot building, once considered

767-463: The 1984–85 season at the now-closed and demolished Joe Louis Arena . The accident, and the delay in repairs, partially prompted the Pistons moving three seasons later 4 miles (6 km) north to their new, privately owned, 20,000-seat sports arena, The Palace of Auburn Hills (like Joe Louis Arena, it also has since closed down and demolished). The 1985 repairs were necessitated by a collapse of

826-576: The 1988 and 1991 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Midwest Regionals and NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in 1982 and 1983. On March 29, 1987, the World Wrestling Federation 's WrestleMania III reportedly established the record for attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America. The record stood until February 14, 2010, when

885-550: The 2010 NBA All-Star Game broke the indoor sporting event record with an attendance of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium . The Silverdome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round from 1976 to 2005. In 2012, the Silverdome became the home stadium of the city's professional Ultimate Frisbee team, the Detroit Mechanix , of the American Ultimate Disc League . That year, the Silverdome hosted

944-549: The Detroit Tigers ) that was later scrapped due to high costs. Davidson was pleased to see a part of his vision for the city of Pontiac accomplished in the building of the 80,000-seat sports complex. Completed in 1975 as the Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium , at a cost of $ 55.7 million, the Silverdome seated 80,311. It contained 102 luxury suites and 7,384 club seats. It sometimes incorporated

1003-467: The Maples Pavilion underwent renovation. Pontiac Silverdome 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

1062-525: The Sun , mainly noticed from the sky. (Initially, however, the stadium also went by its shortened nickname of PonMet , but that nickname was disliked by Pontiac city commissioners. ) The roof was replaced by a new canvas fabric, reinforced by steel girders after a strong snowstorm on March 4, 1985, caused structural damage to the old roof. Because of the damage, the Detroit Pistons played the remainder of

1121-708: The United States tied 1–1 with Switzerland in the first World Cup game to be played indoors. Swiss coach Roy Hodgson later admitted that his team had not prepared for the extreme temperature and humidity. The Silverdome was also the home to many marching band activities and events, including the Michigan Competing Band Association State Marching Band Championships until 2005, the Bands of America Regional championships from 2003 to 2005, and

1180-602: The World Hockey Association (WHA) tried to re-introduce itself, the new WHA Detroit team was slated to play its home games at the Silverdome. Plans were also mooted for a Windsor -based Canadian Football League team which could have used the dome for possible playoff games, but that team also did not materialize. After the Lions relocated, activity in the Silverdome dropped drastically; however, it still staged some events. Annually, Jehovah's Witnesses used

1239-664: The AUDL championship game, as on August 11, the Philadelphia Spinners defeated the Indianapolis AlleyCats 29–22. After the roof had been collapsed and the stadium abandoned, Red Bull produced a video of BMX rider Tyler Fernengel riding inside the Silverdome in 2015. Some notable tricks in the video were Fernengel's barspin to double peg to 180° spin on one of the handrails inside the stadium and an impressive "truckdriver" (handlebars spinning 360° while

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1298-484: The Bands of America Grand National Championships in 1987 and 1988. Following its reopening, the Silverdome was host to the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Bands of America Pontiac Regional Championship. The Lions moved from the Silverdome to Ford Field after the end of their 2001 season . Despite being the Lions' home for 27 seasons, the day of the last home game, January 6, 2002, was marked by a noticeable absence of nostalgia among

1357-590: The City of Pontiac announced that Amazon was going to develop the Silverdome site into both a distribution facility and delivery center. The delivery center opened in September 2020, while the distribution center opened in 2021. The project cost an estimated $ 250 million. Andreas Apostolopoulos Andreas Apostolopoulos (1952 – 15 February 2021) was a Greek-Canadian billionaire businessman, primarily concentrated on real estate investment and redevelopment. He

1416-534: The Detroit Lions, to discuss the possibility of a new stadium, made it a college class project to find a suitable site for a new stadium and even started his own weekly newspaper known as The Pontiac Times , to help promote his vision. After much controversy and sparring with Detroit city officials, Pontiac was chosen over several other sites including the Michigan Fairgrounds, Walled Lake and

1475-586: The Detroit Riverfront as the best place for construction of what would become known as the Pontiac Silverdome. Already having a stadium concept as part of his master plan for the city, Davidson was interviewed and ultimately hired as chief project designer for the stadium project by the architectural firm of O'Dell, Hewlett & Luckenbach. Initial designs included a dual stadium complex for both football and baseball (potentially housing

1534-517: The English rock band Led Zeppelin played in front of 76,229 fans at the Silverdome. This was, at the time, a new world record attendance for a solo indoor attraction, beating the 75,962 that The Who attracted there on December 6, 1975. The Detroit Pistons also set numerous NBA attendance records during their time at the Silverdome; Regular Season, 61,983 vs. Boston, January 29, 1988; Playoffs, 41,732, vs. L.A. Lakers, June 16, 1988. The Silverdome

1593-505: The Pontiac area the morning the Dome was to be re-inflated and a partial inflation, or "puff", was performed so that the scheduled inflation could occur in the presence of the many city and area politicians as well as a number of corporate executives. The original-style, Teflon-coated fiberglass material was used to make the repairs – not canvas as described in the article. There were several snow-melting and waterproofing improvements that kept

1652-858: 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

1711-445: The Silverdome as a sports and entertainment venue, investing millions of dollars to bring back the stadium to its original condition hosting many events, the first event at the Silverdome under his ownership was a monster truck and motorsports show on 17 April 2010. The stadium has since been imploded and will be completely demolished and prepared for future development. Durham Live is a $ 1.3 billion entertainment district that

1770-406: The Silverdome for demolition, including completing environmental remediation, universal waste removal and tearing out transite asbestos panels that were used in a majority of the suites around the perimeter of the dome; though not without a few local trespasser visits to explore the place leading up to the demolition. On September 18 and 19, 2017, four power feeds were disconnected, officially starting

1829-694: The Silverdome from the late 1970s to 2004. Due to talk of renovation in 2004, the Witnesses opted to travel to The Dow Event Center in Saginaw , and the SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio for their District Conventions. Between 2003 and 2006, a three-screen drive-in theater operated in the parking lot; this theater reopened in 2010 before closing again on July 13, 2011. The Silverdome hosted Monster Jam on January 7, 2006, and

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1888-521: The Silverdome in a state of abandonment, showing destruction caused by the 2013 roof collapse. Afterwards, in October 2015, it was announced that the Silverdome would be demolished in the Spring of 2016, and the area would be part of an Oakland County mixed-use development . Demolition was then scheduled for December 3, 2017. In June 2016, fire caused by arson destroyed the former press box. Around

1947-417: The U.S. Marine Corps, attended North Carolina State University on a football scholarship. After earning a master's degree in urban planning and architecture, Davidson began his career as an architect and was recognized for several government and city projects throughout the south including Florida's Jacksonville International Airport . He returned to Pontiac in 1965 and was shocked to see the deterioration of

2006-471: The World Cup matches, a natural grass surface capable of growing inside the dome was developed and installed by a team from Michigan State University . This grass surface was laid upon wooden pallets atop the artificial turf that was usually used. It was the first time that World Cup games were played indoors. The Silverdome also hosted the 1979 NBA All-Star Game , Super Bowl XVI on January 24, 1982, and

2065-433: The arrowhead emblem from its now-defunct namesake General Motors division into its own logo. The original silver-like roof was built of Teflon-coated fiberglass panels, and supported by air pressure inside the stadium. Although the roof has always been white in color as viewed with the naked eye, the stadium obtained the name "Silverdome" (which it would officially take on in 1977) due to a silver-like reflection caused by

2124-416: 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

2183-433: The bike frame spins 360°) out of the luxury boxes onto a ramp that led down to the field. That same year, a drag racing event at the former parking lot marked the beginning of Woodward Dream Cruise . The idea of a major sports complex was part of a dream of C. Don Davidson, a Pontiac native and star high school athlete. Davidson, upon graduating from Pontiac Central High School in 1947 and completing active duty with

2242-489: The building still walled off with plywood. However, in late 2001 the construction was completed and the Leavey Center reopened featuring a new two level grandstand on the east side of the court in addition to the single level seating around the rest of the court. The indoor track had been removed and a second practice court was moved to behind the west bleachers. The athletic offices of the university were also moved into

2301-551: The city and its lack of a future plan. Davidson embarked upon what would eventually become an obsession for him to see his beloved city succeed. In 1965–66, he was hired as a professor of architecture and urban planning at the University of Detroit under the direction of Bruno Leon. As part of an ongoing, comprehensive study by his architecture class on urban renewal for the city of Pontiac, Davidson met with various city and state authorities including William Clay Ford , owner of

2360-567: 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

2419-407: 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. 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. In September 2019, it was announced that Amazon would develop

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2478-424: 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

2537-413: The dome inflated until January 2, 2013 – almost 28 years. The largest crowd to gather at the Silverdome was on September 18, 1987, for Mass with Pope John Paul II , with a reported attendance of 93,682 — just shading the reported record of 93,173 set at the Silverdome on March 29, 1987, for WrestleMania III . Another notable audience attendance record had earlier been broken on April 30, 1977, when

2596-440: The end of March 2018, the last free standing wall of the Silverdome was destroyed, leaving a 50 foot (15 m) deep hole where the stadium once stood. 55,000 cubic yards (42,050 m ) of crushed concrete remained on site to be used as landfill material. Demolition officials stated that final filling and grading operations of the former Silverdome site were expected to be completed by the end of November 2018. In September 2019,

2655-409: The fans as well as the players. In particular, long-time Lions' defensive end Robert Porcher singled out the stadium's artificial turf as the worst part about playing at the Silverdome, echoing other players present that day. The upper concourse was used for inline skating and provided skaters with a 25-foot wide track measuring 0.4 miles on the inner edge and 0.5 miles on the outer edge. When

2714-601: The final preparation process for demolition. The firm contracted to handle the demolition, the Detroit-based Adamo Group, also imploded the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on November 20 before moving on to the Silverdome. The demolition of the Silverdome was to commence on December 3, 2017, with a partial implosion of the upper deck, followed by an excavation of the building from the inside out. Due to

2773-534: The firm of Williams & Williams to conduct the auction in November 2009. After reading about the auction in a newspaper, Greek-born Canadian real estate developer Andreas Apostolopoulos , CEO of Toronto-based Triple Properties Inc., submitted a winning bid of US$ 550,000. Real estate fees of 6% raised the price to US$ 583,000. The sale of the Silverdome, completed in 1975 at a cost of $ 55.7 million (approx. $ 225 million in 2012 dollars) and sold in 2009 for $ 583,000,

2832-538: The new center behind the larger eastern grandstand. The renovation cost $ 14 million to complete. The Leavey Center is named after the late founder of Farmers Insurance , Thomas E. Leavey , who graduated from Santa Clara in 1922. The renovations were funded by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation . Leavey Center also played host to the Stanford University basketball teams for a number of games while

2891-407: The original 1975 roof around noon EST on March 4, 1985. Heavy, wet snow accumulated on the southwest corner of the dome and depressed the fabric panels low enough so that the fabric came in contact with a steel lighting catwalk that was positioned just below the inner lip of the roof's ring beam. The hole caused a loss of air pressure and the Dome deflated slowly – there were no injuries. The shift from

2950-427: The same time, the parking lot began being used as storage for hundreds of Volkswagen diesel cars as a result of Volkswagen's 2015 emissions scandal . The dome owner and the city were in conflict over the condition of the dome and the cars in the lot. In 2017, the Silverdome was condemned and cleared for demolition. Workers had been on the site for the past few months before main power feeds were disconnected preparing

3009-665: The site. The Silverdome hosted the Detroit Lions of the NFL (1975–2001), the Detroit Pistons of the NBA (1978–1988), the Detroit Express (for both outdoor and indoor soccer ) of the NASL (1978–1980), the Michigan Panthers of the USFL (1983–1984), college football's Cherry Bowl (1984–1985), the Motor City Bowl (1997–2001), the MHSAA football state finals (1976–2004) and four first-round games during soccer's 1994 FIFA World Cup . For

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3068-546: The stadium as a big-event venue by investing millions of dollars". The Silverdome re-opened on April 17, 2010, with a monster truck event. A.C. Milan and Panathinaikos F.C. played an exhibition game on August 6, 2010. On January 29, 2011, professional boxer Timothy Bradley defended his WBO light welterweight title in a unification fight against WBC champion Devon Alexander . The fight aired live on HBO World Championship Boxing , with an attendance of about 7,000. The owners indicated that they were pursuing

3127-467: The stadium. In early 2008, United Assurance Company Ltd. made the highest purchase offer to date, with a bid of $ 18 million to convert the Silverdome into a Hollywood-style entertainment complex, following an earlier bid of $ 12 million by an attorney. However, the city announced in October 2009 that the property would go to auction with no minimum bid, and that zoning regulations would be relaxed for any buyer in order to spark development. The city engaged

3186-548: The way to commercial real estate investment and redevelopment. He was the chairman of Triple Group of Companies, based in Toronto, Ontario . Apostolopoulos made international news in 2009 when his investment company purchased the Pontiac Silverdome at auction for $ 583,000. A low purchase price for an 82,000-seat stadium that had been constructed in 1975 for $ 55.7 million ($ 220 million in 2009). Apostolopoulos's company Triple Sports and Entertainment managed and operated

3245-410: The years and on April 4, 2000, the dome was deflated to make room for a more permanent roof structure to be built over the arena. The newly rechristened Leavey Center was renovated and reopened on December 13, 2000, now sporting a much taller steel roof supported by eight large concrete caissons outside the arena. The interior was only partially constructed on opening day with most of the western half of

3304-478: 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

3363-564: Was a venue for the 1994 FIFA World Cup . In an exhibition game between Germany and England in June 1993, English coach Graham Taylor criticized the indoor venue's lack of weather as removing an unpredictability factor from soccer. The lack of air conditioning contributed to extreme heat and humidity, an advantage to the Germans playing for Italian clubs. The 62,126 attendance was the highest in any US soccer match since 1984. On June 18, 1994,

3422-449: Was used as a practice facility for the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers for Super Bowl XL , with the NFL adding FieldTurf , which was later donated to a local high school. After the Lions' departure, the city of Pontiac began to experience several years of serious financial problems. Due to the continued high maintenance costs of the structure, it made several unsuccessful attempts to sell

3481-577: Was viewed by many as a symbol of the collapse of real estate prices in the Detroit metropolitan area though many local leaders and residents claimed the sale was brought about due to the incompetence of city management and their not having a vision or future plans for the stadium and surrounding area. In the March 11, 2010, edition of the Detroit Free Press , Apostolopoulos vowed "to revive

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