Pontiac Silverdome demolition to begin Dec. 3

The Pontiac Silverdome will be demolished beginning Dec. 3, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.

Opened Aug. 23, 1975, the facility in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac was once the gold standard for NFL stadiums, and served as the longtime home to the Lions as well as the Pistons from 1978 to 1988. It also hosted a Super Bowl (49ers-Bengals in 1982), a visit by Pope John Paul II, an NBA All-Star game, NCAA basketball tournament games, mega-concerts, and a WrestleMania event.

But as with many other U.S. pro sports stadiums from that era, the turn of the century brought a replacement; Ford Field became the Lions' new home when it opened in 2002. The years since have not been kind to the Silverdome. Without a major tennant, the facility closed, reopened, then closed again. A 2013 storm destroyed the roof, and the stadium has been seen in recent years only on YouTube videos shot by curious explorers drawn to abandoned places.