3 months ago
PONTIAC, MI -- An Oakland Circuit judge Wednesday temporarily blocked the recent sale of the Pontiac Silverdome and ordered attorneys to submit additional pleadings in the case.
Silver Stallion Corp., led by Bloomfield Hills attorney H. Wallace Parker, sought the injunction after a closed-door auction Monday in which a Canadian group purchased the city-owned sports facility with a winning bid of $583,000.
Silver Stallion, which was not invited to the final auction, claims its ongoing effort to purchase the Silverdome for $17 million -- and an August 2008 purchase agreement with the city -- should be honored. The city counters Silver Stallion never submitted a $250,000 deposit as required of other bidders.
"Nothing is going to happen until next week. The judge has stopped the sale at this time," Silver Stallion attorney David E. McGruder said after Wednesday's hearing.
Judge Edward Sosnick told attorneys to submit legal arguments by Friday afternoon and he would make a ruling at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
The still-unidentified Toronto developer wants to bring men and women's professional soccer leagues to the Silverdome, city officials said. The Detroit Express soccer team played two seasons at the facility in the late 1970s as part of the now-defunct North American Soccer League but moved to Washington due to lack of interest. World Cup Soccer matches were held there in the mid-1990s.
Parker has expressed interest in a racino -- a thoroughbred horse racing track and casino with slot machines at the Silverdome, once home to the Detroit Lions and Pistons. The 80,300-seat Silverdome was built in 1975 at a cost of $55.7 million, but since the Lions moved out in 2002, it has largely sat vacant and dark.
The Detroit News
