In 2016, I had the opportunity to visit the ruins of the Pontiac Silverdome, and what struck me the most was the eerie sounds that echoed through the desolate stadium. The wind howled through the tattered roof panels, creating a haunting melody as it brushed past the support cables like guitar strings. Occasionally, I would hear the clatter of metal hardware falling from above, a stark reminder of the decay of this once-thriving venue.
The Silverdome, located in Detroit, Michigan, had been abandoned for years when I arrived with my camera. A snowstorm in 2013 had torn the roof apart, leaving the stadium vulnerable to the elements. By the time I visited, much of the equipment had been auctioned off, leaving the stadium a mere shell of its former self. Nature had begun to reclaim the space, with small shoots of grass pushing through the artificial turf.
This was not my first encounter with the Silverdome. In 1994, as a teenager still mourning the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, I traveled to the stadium with my family during a road trip to Seattle. The stadium, originally built for the NFL’s Detroit Lions, had also been home to the North American Soccer League’s Detroit Express. The Silverdome had seen it all, from monster-truck rallies to wrestling matches, even hosting a mass led by Pope John Paul II himself.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the organizers of the 1994 World Cup was the installation of a natural grass field within the indoor venue. The Silverdome’s unique roof structure, designed to filter out sunlight, posed a major obstacle to the project. Dr. Trey Rogers, a professor at Michigan State University, recalls the skepticism surrounding the idea of growing grass within the stadium.
“We basically had to move a temporary field into a place that was never going to have natural grass,” Rogers explains. “First, we had to find a container or mechanism to hold the grass or soil. Then, we had to figure out how to grow the grass elsewhere and how to manage it once inside the stadium.”
A research dome, nicknamed “Silverdome West,” was constructed 75 miles from the stadium to experiment with different grass types and soil compositions. FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, set a lofty goal for the organizers: to have the grass field ready a year in advance of the World Cup. The field made its debut at the 1993 U.S. Cup, a warm-up tournament played across America.
The process of creating a natural grass field within the Silverdome was a groundbreaking achievement in the world of sports technology. Despite the initial doubts and challenges, the team of researchers managed to successfully implement the project, paving the way for future innovations in stadium design and maintenance.
