Watch: The Palace of Auburn Hills demolition from 3 angles, wreckage afterward

Cal Abbo
The Detroit News

The Palace of Auburn Hills has reached the end of the road.

The former home of the Detroit Pistons, countless concerts and other events, was demolished Saturday morning in a successful implosion that brought the remaining skeleton of the area to the ground. 

The City of Auburn Hills closed several surrounding roads to prepare for the demolition but hundreds of spectators lined the businesses across Lapeer Road to watch. 

So what happens now?

"Following the detonation, the roof structure will fall to the ground in a period of four to five seconds," Stephanie Carroll, the manager of business development and community relations for Auburn Hills, told The Detroit News earlier this week.

After the demolition, she said, crews will spend several months cleaning up the mess and filling the hole that held service areas and underground suites, she said.

Schostak Brothers & Co., a development company based in Livonia, bought part of The Palace in a joint venture. Its president, Jeffrey Schostak, told The Detroit News the implosion "marks the beginning of an exciting new era. The expansive and innovative development to come will bring hundreds of jobs and fresh opportunities for growth in a great part of southeast Michigan."

BEFORE

The shell of the Palace of Auburn Hills awaits demolition Saturday, July 11.

DURING

The roof of the Palace collapses as the supports are blown out below during the demolition.

AFTER

The Palace of Auburn Hills is no more.

Before it was sold, the Auburn Hills city council rezoned the space for research and development, Carroll said. After crews clear the site, it will eventually hold 1 million square feet of mixed-use office and research and development space.

This demolition comes just two years after that of the Pontiac Silverdome, which hosted the Pistons for about ten years in the '70s and '80s, as well as the Detroit Lions for 25 years until 2001.