Pontiac Silverdome

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Pontiac Silverdome


Location	1200 Featherstone Road Pontiac, MI 48342
Broke ground	September 19, 1973
Opened	August 23, 1975
Closed	as of March 2007
Owner	The City of Pontiac, Michigan
Operator	Pontiac Stadium Building Authority
Surface	FieldTurf AstroTurf (1975-2004)
Construction cost	$55.7 million
Former names	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium (1975)
Tenants
Detroit Lions (NFL) (1975-2001) Detroit Pistons (NBA) (1978-1988) Michigan Panthers(USFL) (1983-1984) Detroit Express (NASL) (1978-1980)
Capacity
80,311

The Pontiac Silverdome is a domed stadium in Pontiac, Michigan, a satellite city of Detroit. It hosted the Detroit Lions of the NFL from 1975-2001, the Detroit Pistons of the NBA from 1978-1988, the Michigan Panthers of the USFL from 1983-1984, the college football Cherry Bowl in 1984 and 1985 and Motor City Bowl from 1997 until 2001, the MHSAA football state finals from 1976 - 2004, and four first-round games during the 1994 World Cup. For the World Cup games, a natural grass surface capable of growing inside the dome was developed and installed by a team from Michigan State University.[1] This grass surface was laid upon wooden pallets atop the artificial turf that is 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 28, 1982, and the 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Midwest Regionals. In 1987, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass (liturgy) there.

The decision to build a domed stadium in Pontiac took place after a late-season football game at Tiger Stadium resulted in a half-dozen pairs of shoes being lost beneath the muddy surface and not recovered until the next spring. Completed in 1975 (as the Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium, or PonMet Stadium for short) at a cost of $55.7 million, the Silverdome seated 80,311. It contained 102 luxury suites and 7,384 club seats.

The original silver roof was built of Teflon-coated fiberglass panels, and supported by air pressure inside the stadium (anyone who has attended an event at the Silverdome is familiar with the ear-popping "wind tunnel" effect at the entrances). The roof was replaced by a new canvas fabric reinforced by steel girders after a freak spring snowstorm on March 4, 1985 caused structural damage to the old roof. Because of the damage, the Detroit Pistons played the remainder of the 1984-85 season at Joe Louis Arena. The Detroit Pistons won the last game they ever played in the Silverdome, which was Game 5 of the 1988 NBA Finals where they took a 3-2 lead over the LA Lakers before losing in seven games. Being one of the largest stadiums in the NFL and also a domed stadium, the Silverdome was known for the extremely loud noise that the fans were capable of producing when the stands were filled.

The largest crowd to ever gather at the Silverdome for an event was on March 29, 1987 for WrestleMania III, with a reported attendance of 93,173. Another notable audience attendance record had earlier been broken on April 30, 1977, when 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 in December 1975.

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 the Bands of America Grand National Championships in 1987 and 1988.

The Lions moved to the new Ford Field at the beginning of the 2002 season. When the WHA tried to re-introduce itself, the new WHA Detroit team was slated to play their 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 Detroit Lions relocated, activity in the Silverdome dropped drastically. However some usage was still present. Annually, Jehovah's Witnesses used the Silverdome from the late 80's 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. [2]

The Silverdome was the brief home to the Silverdome Drive In Movies. Opening in 2003 with 2 screens, a 3rd screen was later added. The Silverdome Drive In ran in the Summers of 2003 - 2005. The Drive In opened for a short stint in 2006, but as of 2007 it is closed.

The Silverdome was used for Monster Jam on January 7, 2006. It was also used as a practice facility for the AFC Champions Pittsburgh Steelers for Super Bowl XL, with the NFL adding FieldTurf, which was later donated to a local high school. There was also a celebrity flag football game that Saturday which served as the last football event ever at the Silverdome. The stadium is now closed and will eventually be torn down or significantly modified as part of the redevelopment of the property. The developer for this has yet to be selected by the City of Pontiac.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a massive rumor started to circulate thru Detroit stating that the displaced NFL team, the New Orleans Saints were considering using the facility to play their home games in for the season. This turned out to be false much to the disappointment of Detroit football fans who liked the idea of having two teams in Detroit.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

Preceded by Tiger Stadium 1935–1974	Home of the Detroit Lions 1975–2001	Succeeded by Ford Field 2002–present
Preceded by Louisiana Superdome Super Bowl XV	Host of Super Bowl XVI 1982	Succeeded by Rose Bowl Stadium Super Bowl XVII
Preceded by Cobo Arena 1961–1978	Home of the Detroit Pistons 1978–1988	Succeeded by The Palace of Auburn Hills 1988–present
Preceded by Nassau Coliseum Rosemont Horizon L.A. Sports Arena	Host of WrestleMania III 1987	Succeeded by Trump Plaza

v • d • e

Super Bowl Host Venues

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (I, VII) • Miami Orange Bowl (II, III, V, X, XIII) • Tulane Stadium (IV, VI, IX) • Rice Stadium (VIII)
Rose Bowl (XI, XIV, XVII, XXI, XXVII) • Louisiana Superdome (XII, XV, XX, XXIV, XXXI, XXXVI) • Pontiac Silverdome (XVI) • Tampa Stadium (XVIII, XXV)
Stanford Stadium (XIX) • Qualcomm Stadium (XXII, XXXII, XXXVII) • Dolphin Stadium (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV) • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (XXVI)
Georgia Dome (XXVIII, XXXIV) • Sun Devil Stadium (XXX) • Raymond James Stadium (XXXV, XLIII) • Reliant Stadium (XXXVIII)
ALLTEL Stadium (XXXIX) • Ford Field (XL) • University of Phoenix Stadium (XLII) • Dallas Cowboys New Stadium (XLV)

Venues of the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA
Citrus Bowl (Orlando) • Cotton Bowl (Dallas) • Foxboro Stadium (Boston) • Giants Stadium (New York/New Jersey) • Pontiac Silverdome (Detroit) • RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.) • Rose Bowl (Los Angeles) • Soldier Field (Chicago) • Stanford Stadium (San Francisco)

WrestleMania venues
Allstate Arena • Caesars Palace • Citrus Bowl • Ford Field • Hartford Civic Center • Honda Center • Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena • Madison Square Garden • Nassau Coliseum • Pontiac Silverdome • RCA Dome • Reliant Astrodome • Rogers Centre • Safeco Field • Staples Center • TD Banknorth Garden • Trump Plaza • Wachovia Center