Days after the Pontiac City Council approved the sale of the former home of the Detroit Lions for $20 million, the mayor said he might veto the plan due to uncertainty surrounding the buyer’s ability to afford the stadium.
Last week council members in the cash-strapped city approved a measure to sell the Silverdome to Detroit attorney H. Wallace Parker. The developer plans a $175 million project that would include restaurants and renovation of the 80,000-seat stadium to host musical performances and auto shows.
But Mayor Clarence Phillips said the city has no assurance of getting paid under the current terms of the deal. “He hasn’t been able to produce even a letter of credit,” Phillips was quoted as saying about Parker in Crain’s Detroit Business.
A deal must be worked out in 90 days.
The Silverdome has been on the market since 2002. Located in southeastern Michigan between Flint and Detroit, Pontiac has been hit particularly hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs across the state. The sale is part of the city’s effort to plug a budget deficit and avoid an emergency fiscal takeover by the state.
