From 1988 to 2017, the Palace of Auburn Hills was home to the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. On July 11, 2020, it was imploded into smithereens, ending a fantastic run for the historic arena.
While much of the building was previously demolished, Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) was brought into the site as the Explosives Subcontractor under Homrich Wrecking, Inc, the main contractor based in Michigan, in order to bring down the roof structure -- and they did so in spectacular fashion.
According to Fox2, the crews used 800 pounds of explosives in order to bring down the roof and the implosion appeared to be very successful. The razing of the arena will make way for a new development which is expected to house several corporate offices.
Fans of this arena may know that this is actually the 3rd demolition that has taken place at the Palace in the building’s 30-year history: the first being the demolition of Michael Jordan’s body courtesy of the Pistons’ Bad Boys in the late 80’s and early 90’s and the second being the demolition of several fans faces during the “Malice at the Palace” in 2004.
The success of this demolition is in stark contrast to the demolition of another historic stadium that used to be located just down the road from The Palace: the Pontiac Silverdome. Prior to The Palace being completed, the Silverdome was actually also the home of the Detroit Pistons for 10 years, spanning from 1978-1988. The NFL’s Detroit Lions called the Silverdome home from 1975-2001.
The demolition of the Silverdome was carried out by a different contractor in 2017, but their implosion efforts weren’t as successful. The day of the first attempt, several explosions could be seen going off, but the structure didn’t budge. The next day, crews once again attempted to bring the structure down and had much better luck.
You can check out several angles of the implosion of The Palace of Auburn Hills, uploaded to YouTube by CDI, below:
Shane is the creator of Construction Junkie and an active construction project manager. In his career, he has managed interior remodel projects, site development, construction safety, governmental project compliance, and facility maintenance. He has a strong passion for construction technology and safety, as well as sharing the knowledge or insights he has gained throughout his career.