In 1975, The Engineering News Record called it "one of the greatest design and construction achievements of our time."

The same year, The National Society of Professional Engineers called it "one of the 10 outstanding engineering feats in the U.S. in 1975."

They were talking about the new Pontiac Silverdome, a $55.7 million stadium that provided a new home for the Detroit Lions. Construction manager Barton Malow and the building trades worked hard to complete the stadium in 23 months, in time for the Lions' first preseason home game in August against the Kansas City Chiefs (the Lions won, 27-24).

"There were a lot of unique things about the Silverdome," said Dan Feliks of Barton Malow, who acted as project superintendent during construction. "It's still one of the largest stadiums in the country, and at the time, it was one of the first of its kind. I know I learned a lot as it was being built."

It was the first stadium ever constructed with a roof - 10 acres of Teflon-coated Fiberglass - that was kept inflated with air pressure. The project's architects called the stadium's roof "the first successful example of a fiberglass fabric system for enclosing vast amounts of space at a comparative low cost." The roof has stood up well, with one glaring exception: a snow and ice storm collapsed the roof in March 1995.

At first, the Silverdome was actually a partially open-air stadium. Feliks recalled that having the roof in place would have been helpful before the Chiefs game, but it wasn't ready. Tremendous rains had swept the area a few days before the contest, and it took two helicopters hovering over the field to sufficiently dry the field's carpet to allow the yard markers to be painted on the morning of the game.

The roof was finally completed in October 1975, just before a Monday night game against Dallas.

With construction of Ford Field in downtown Detroit moving along, the 2001 season is slated to be the last for the Detroit Lions at the Silverdome. The decision by the Ford family, which owns the Lions, to move their team out of the Silverdome and back to Detroit had little to do with the viability of the Pontiac stadium. It's still an excellent venue to see a football game - but the Ford expressed a desire to get in on the action of revitalizing downtown Detroit.

So what's to become of the Silverdome? Owned by the City of Pontiac Stadium Building Authority, it sits on a prime piece of real estate in Oakland County. In the past the stadium has hosted Pope John Paul II, the Rolling Stones and Elvis, but minus the Lions, there aren't enough concerts and tractor pulls to keep the facility utilized and profitable. Odds are it will be demolished.

"It doesn't seem like it was built that long ago, but it has been 26 years," Feliks said. "It'll be a shame to see it go, because it's still a good building and there really isn't a bad seat in the house."

THE PONTIAC SILVERDOME is shown under construction on May 29, 1975. Several Detroit Lions football games were played that year before the Teflon-coated fiberglass dome was complete. The stadium seats 80,325.

The Silverdome will be replaced by Ford Field.