Between 1975 to 2001, the 82 000-plus seater Pontiac Silverdome was home to the Detroit Lions.

It was also used to host other types of events, many of them breaking records – from Led Zeppelin in 1977, to 93 000 people watching Pope John Paul II’s mass in 1987.

Oh, and in true American fashion, WrestleMania III rocking 93 173 people, reports wxyz.

What a weird combination.

Anyway, in 2002 Ford Field came along and Silverdome was left without a permanent tenant, the Lions moving to their new home.

After that, the building kind of lost its purpose:

It first closed in 2006, but after multiple attempts to solicit redevelopment plans, the city sold the stadium at auction in 2009. It reopened in 2010 and hosted several events, but closed again by 2013. The roof was destroyed by a winter storm in 2013 and has since been seen in pieces around the inside of the stadium.

Here’s the Silverdome in all its glory back in the day:

This year, the Silverdome was condemned and prepared for demolition. That was scheduled for Sunday morning – and failed.

After the implosion charges went off, things didn’t go to plan. Pretty sure this is supposed to tumble to the ground:

https://twitter.com/_/status/937329896547811330

That’s a little embarrassing.

How’s this for an apt soundtrack:

However, city officials don’t seem overly perturbed:

[T]he Silverdome was “built a little too well,” officials say. “We just have to wait and let gravity do its job,” officials say. “It’s going to collapse, we just don’t know when.”

Well, it happened the following day, when more charges were added and the Silverdome came crashing to the ground:

I always find it a little sad when buildings are demolished, so I thought a revisit to our own Athlone cooling towers was a good idea:

[source:digg&wxyz]