Dismay, resignation in suburban Detroit over $7-a-seat sale of once-proud Pontiac Silverdome

Silverdome sale brings more Detroit-area dismay

PONTIAC, Mich. — Talk about getting stuck with the cheap seats.

The Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Detroit was built three decades ago for $56 million. Now it’s being virtually given away after a judge approved its sale for a paltry $583,000.

That comes out to $7.25 a seat as the once-proud arena is relegated to being another sad symbol of the Detroit area’s economic collapse.

The Silverdome opened in 1975 as home of the Detroit Lions and housed the NBA’s Pistons in 1978-88. It hosted the Super Bowl in 1982, Elvis in 1975, even a Mass conducted by Pope John Paul II in 1987.

Since being abandoned by the Lions in 2002, the stadium has saddled Pontiac with a $1.5 million a year maintenance bill.

Meanwhile, the 66,000-resident city has fallen into state financial oversight.