Toronto firm buys Mich. stadium for $583K
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 | 11:22 AM ET
CBC News
A judge has cleared the way for a Canadian company to buy the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Mich., despite an attempt by a competitive bidder to block the sale.
The Silverdome is seen in Pontiac, Mich., in this Nov. 2, 2005, file photo. A judge has cleared the way for a Toronto company to buy the stadium for $583,000 US. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press) Toronto-based Triple Properties, Inc. will pay $583,000 US for the 80,300-seat stadium and former home of the National Football League's Detroit Lions. It will take ownership in early January.
That irks Silver Stallion Corp., headed by Bloomfield Hills, Mich., lawyer H. Wallace Parker, which in 2008 bid $20 million on the stadium. That bid fell through in a dispute about environmental cleanup costs.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Edward Sosnick had earlier issued a temporary restraining order blocking the sale to Triple Properties but on Monday refused to grant Silver Stallion a preliminary injuction.
At a hearing Monday, Silver Stallion lawyer David McGruder said the people of Pontiac would be harmed by the sale and that the deal contained no guarantee it would create jobs in the economically depressed city.
In his written opinion, Sosnick said Silver Stallion can continue to pursue legal action against Pontiac but that the company's claims are unlikely to succeed.
The Silverdome was built for $55.7 million in 1975. The Lions played there from 1975 to 2001, when they moved to Detroit's Ford Field. Pontiac has been spending $1.5 million US a year since then to maintain the largely unused stadium.
The National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons also played at the Silverdome.
