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. 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.
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.
