Larry Alexander tells GlobeSt.com the stadium will bring a much-needed venue into the Downtown area.
"The stadium should be able to handle all sorts of events, such as the Final Four basketball tournament and the Democratic or Republican conventions," Alexander says.
Currently, Detroit doesn't have any arena type of facilities, Alexander adds. There's a convention center, Cobo Hall; Joe Louis Arena, the home of the Detroit Red Wings; and the new Comerica Park for the Detroit Tigers. The closest arena is the Palace of Auburn Hills, about 25 miles from Detroit.
Ford Field, which will hold about 65,000 at 1.3 million sf, is being built alongside Comerica Park, which opened last year. Ford Field is also set to host Super Bowl XL in 2006. For that honor, city leaders promised the National Football League there will be enough hotel rooms for all the event visitors.
Alexander says the city is ready for the big-league style conventions that can be hosted at Ford Field.
"We have 31,000 hotel rooms in the region," he says.
The city is hoping to see a few hundred hotel rooms with permanent casinos, with plans that could be announced by city leaders March 31. Also, Alexander said a new $1.2-billion terminal for Northwest Airlines, which opened early this year, will help bring more interest to Detroit as a destination place.
The new Ford Field didn't come cheap. As compensation for moving out of their current home field, the Pontiac Silverdome, the Ford Motor Co.-owned Detroit Lions will pay the city of Pontiac more than $27 million. The team was supposed to stay at the Silverdome until 2006.
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