The Boom Was A Bust: Pontiac Silverdome Blows Up, Doesn't Come Down

By Camila Domonoske / NPR

Published December 3, 2017 at 6:05 AM PST

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

The Pontiac Silverdome, pictured in 2008, was supposed to be demolished on Sunday. But the explosion didn't go as planned.

Charges went off. Smoke went up.

But the Pontiac Silverdome didn't come down.

The aging structure in Michigan — the former home of the Detroit Lions, and at one time the largest NFL stadium — was slated for demolition on Sunday, but the explosion was a failure.

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Executives with Adamo Group, the company in charge of the demolition, say a wiring problem caused 10 percent of the charges to fail to go off, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The building has been weakened, however, and could fall at any time, the Free Press reports. The newspaper spoke to Adamo Group executive vice president Rick] Cuppetilli.

"Excavators will be used this week to take out the structure unless gravity causes it to fall on its own before then, Cuppetilli said," the Free Press writes. "So far there are no plans for a second explosion attempt."

Does Twitter have jokes?

Of course, Twitter has jokes — mostly venting frustrations with the historical performance of the Detroit Lions.

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