The End of a Era: Palace of Auburn Hills is Slated for Demolition

Olympia Stadium, Tiger Stadium, Pontiac Silverdome, and Joe Louis. All iconic landmarks of Detroit sports and entertainment, and they're all gone... well, Joe Louis is on its way. Sadly, you can add one more to the list -- The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores announced Monday that his company has entered an agreement to redevelop The Palace of Auburn Hills and the land surrounding the former home of the Pistons and the site of more concerts than most of us can remember. The deal is a joint venture between Gore's company and the Livonia-based Schostack Brothers & Company. Demolition of the Palace is scheduled to begin in the fall.

The Palace was once the largest NBA arena and hosted a wide variety of concerts featuring everything from legendary artists like Pink Floyd, U2, Aerosmith (who played the venue 14 times) to more contemporary acts like Rhianna and Katy Perry. Even homegrown acts such as Bob Seger and Grand Funk Railroad have graced the stage at the Palace.

According to the announcement, the land will be developed and is expected to include corporate offices, research & development, and technology companies. As for the Detroit Pistons, they will maintain their corporate offices at The Palace, but will move business operations to the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in the New Center area of Detroit come fall.

The arena opened on November 5th, 1988, it was a state-of-the-art facility known for its luxury suites and a design that most NBA teams envied... and later borrowed from for their own new arena designs. The Palace was one of the last two NBA arenas that had not sold its naming rights to a corporation, the other being New York's Madison Square Garden.

Auburn Hills Mayor Kevin McDaniel said in the release, "We are enthusiastic about the redevelopment potential and what is expected to be an outcome that provides for future expansion of the City’s corporate business community.” Thanks for the memories 6, Championship Drive.