Image Credit: William Stuben (CC BY-ND 2.0)
The NBA’s Detroit Pistons are set to move from Auburn Hills, Michigan to downtown Detroit this fall. The Pistons will share the newly constructed Little Caesar’s Arena with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. However, local activists D. Etta Wilcoxon and Robert Davis attempted to block the funding for the arena’s construction because property tax revenue is being used to fund it.
The property tax revenue as Davis and Wilcoxon claim, is designated for Detroit’s public schools. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith has denied their lawsuit and construction will continue thanks to approval from city council. Goldsmith expressed concerns over how damaging blocking the funds would be to the project which will bring millions of dollars in revenue to downtown Detroit.
For the first time in Detroit sports history, all four professional sports franchises will be playing their home games in downtown Detroit. Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, are a few blocks away from Little Caesar’s Arena. Total construction costs for Little Caesar’s Arena is estimated to be in the $870 million range. The Illitch family, owners of the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and Little Caesar’s Pizza, will contribute the bulk of the money needed to build the arena.
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