Metro Detroit Revels In Explosion Of Fake Silverdome Events

PONTIAC, MI – The Pontiac Silverdome bit the literal dust of a successful demolition Monday, but last week’s failure to implode inspired dozens of Metro Detroiters to devise a number of novel ways to eradicate the 42-year-old structure that once housed the Detroit Lions. While a faulty detonating cord ruined the implosion for onlookers, area residents' novel approaches became real events, if only on Facebook .

The event organizers’ methods, while unconventional and, some might argue, mad, could not fail to destroy the building any more spectacularly than the first attempt at the actual demolition…did not. One event, Pray the Dome Away urged area residents to ask the almighty for intervention. “We're hoping to do with the power of prayer what they couldn't do with the power of explosives. All faiths welcome,” the organizers wrote in the event description.

Keeping the holidays at the forefront of their event, the organizers of Use the Silverdome to Roast a Large Turkey don’t say whether they’d brine the bird first, or if they’d go organic. While the Silverdome would certainly have held a very, very large turkey, no sides were offered. In fact, the organizers instructed participants to “Bring your own mashed potatoes!”

While the weather here is more “brrr!” than “hurricane,” that was no barrier to the organizers of Watch Sharknado Finish off the Silverdome, who insist that this method could succeed where explosives did not. Detroiter Eric Toth, 50, cited hard times at the holidays for his choice to hire a vaguely sentient cloud of ocean predators and weather for the job. “Sharknado needed the work,” Toth said. “There's not much work for a Sharknado trying to feed his family in Detroit.” Unlike the actual demolitions crew, according to the event page, Sharknado “will be available for autographs and pictures with the kids.”

Oak Park resident Nick Rowley, 42, an event planner and theatre artist, organized Serenade The Silverdome with Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing.’ Rowley told Patch he suspects the Silverdome enjoyed having so many people interested in its general existence for the first time in years. When asked if he thought the dome was more “true survivor” or “little kid,” per the Elton John lyrics, Rowley said the latter.

“It probably felt like a little kid because it got all that attention. It was probably pretty geeked,” Rowley said. “I don't think it felt the explosion,” Rowley added.