Stadium as big as Wembley left ABANDONED and used as a car park with shredded roof after hosting WrestleMania
The once impressive Pontiac Silverdome Stadium sat abandoned for years after hosting some legendary events.
The 82,000-seat venue has hosted some legendary sporting events over the years, including WrestleMania 1987, Super Bowl XVI and part of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
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The stadium, the size of London’s Wembley, opened in 1975 in Pontiac, just outside Detroit, Michigan, and was once an impressive pillar of the community.
Wrestlemania III, held there in 1987, was famous for Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant.
It is estimated that nearly 80,000 spectators filled the stadium that day, with millions watching from across America.
Some legendary artists also played there, including the rock band Led Zeppelin in 1977.
Construction cost $55 million in the early 1970s, which, adjusted for inflation, would be around $250 million today.
It later became more known for its apocalyptic wasteland look after lying abandoned for so long.
When another stadium in Detroit, Ford Field, opened in 2002, the Silverdome lost its permanent tenant: the NFL’s Detroit Lions, who had played there since 1975.
The city apparently couldn’t find a better way to use the space, leaving it empty and neglected for nearly a decade.
There were a few offers to purchase the Silverdome, one as high as $18 million, but it was auctioned off and ultimately sold for just $583,000 – a sign that the city is in a state of irreparable decay located.
After years of problems with the stadium roof and the city’s financial situation at the time, no one stepped in to save it.
The cover collapsed during heavy snowfall in the stadium’s first year of use, and although repaired, it continued to prove faulty over the years.
Strangely, when the contents were auctioned off in 2014, there were thousands of recalled Volkswagens in the parking lot.
The eerie image of a full parking lot next to the haunting venue gave the impression that tens of thousands of fans were attending a game.
In 2018, Volkswagen still stored cars on the stadium grounds.
When the city decided it was time to demolish the vacant building, it became embroiled in a legal battle with the stadium’s Canadian owners.
They were only able to start dismantling in 2017.
Explosives were soon used to tear down the roof, and by March 2018 the site was destroyed, leaving a cavernous shell in the ground.
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