Pontiac sells Silverdome to Canadian developers

metromode, 11/19/2009

One of the major millstones has been removed from the city of Pontiac's neck now that the Pontiac Silverdome has been sold.

The sale frees the city, which is in receivership, of $1.5 million in annual maintenance costs for the former NFL stadium. The city has been trying to broker a sale of the stadium and surrounding property at the corner of I-75 and M-59 ever since the Detroit Lions left it in 2002.

That led to the recent no-reserve bid auction hosted by Williams & Williams. A family owned real-estate company based in Toronto came in with the highest bid of $583,000. The Silverdome was built for $55.7 million in taxpayer money in 1975.

"We recognized the problem and made the tough decision to base the sale on reality rather than dreams of higher sale prices and procrastination," Fred Leeb, the Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Pontiac said in a press release.

The 80,000-seat stadium and surrounding 127 acres primarily served as the home for the Lions until the team left for Ford Field in downtown Detroit. The Pistons also played a few seasons there. Its field also sported a Super Bowl and World Cup soccer matches.

Source: Williams & Williams
Writer: Jon Zemke

Pontiac