Demolition Blast Fails to Bring Down The Pontiac Silverdome

Whether or not you realize it, you are currently acting as a live part of history as it is unfolding right beneath your nose. Today, things might seem new and thriving but years from now, you might look back on the demise of certain structures or maybe even events that you thought were the best in the world. This is exactly the case for the Pontiac Silverdome, a stadium just outside of Detroit that was once a massive and prolific place for just about any event to take place but would eventually crumble into a shell of its former self thanks to a whole collection of unfortunate circumstances that would leave the facility in ruin.

At one point in time, the structure was able to house up to 95,000 people, reaching its peak when the Pope would make his way to the Silverdome to hold a mass. However, as the stadium was in a suburb of Detroit, the economic crumble that we are also familiar with would highly affect attendance, leaving the building to stay open for fewer and fewer people before it would finally not be worth the amount of money that had to be invested in keeping it open versus what they would bring in. That, in combination with heavy snow that would cause the roof to collapse and caused damage inside of the stadium, would call for the building’s sale.

Eventually, the building that, accounting for inflation, would cost over $200 million just to build would be sold for the grand sum of $583,000, complete with all of the property around it. As it turned out, the new owners also had trouble with the building, attempting to open it back up but dealing with some of the same roof issues and attendance issues that the venue had become known for. Mismanagement of the property would eventually lead to the dome to be gutted and sold piece, by piece, not leaving much behind to be desired, taking all of the precious memories contained within and selling them to the highest bidder. In 2017, the building has been scheduled for demolition. However, not even that process could go right for this one’s iconic place that seems to keep stumbling upon bad luck.

The video below will take you along for the ride as the demo team came in and set off their explosives, only to find that they wouldn’t be effective. As of now, the demolition team says that the building will eventually fall but it isn’t clear when. As you can see, that might just cause quite the issue as it’s a major safety concern and they’re left to play the waiting game. How will it all pan out? Only time will tell.