Pontiac Silverdome Demolition Set For December

PONTIAC, MI – The former home of the Detroit Lions will be reduced to a pile of rubble next month. The city of Pontiac on Friday issued demolition permits for the monstrous arena on Friday.

The Detroit-based demolition company, the Adamo Group, was issued a demolition permit, according to multiple media reports.

According to the Detroit News, the demolition will begin Dec. 3 with the implosion of the support beams across the top of the structure. If the weather is bad, the demo start will be delayed until Dec. 10. The deconstruction of the building is expected to take as long as year.

Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Water told The Detroit Free Press that current owner of the structure, the Triple Investment Group, is responsible for all costs associated with the building’s demolition.

"Taxpayers paid a lot to build the Silverdome. We don’t need to be encumbered with the cost of taking it down," Waterman said in an interview.

The Silverdome was built in 1975, and the Lions played there from 1975 to 2001, when the team moved its games to Ford Field in downtown Detroit. The Detroit Pistons also played there from 1978 to 1988.

File photo by Paul Sancya/Associated Press