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Lions Stadium Incorporates New Design Ideas

DETROIT-A lower field, an open view and a merger with the next-door building all make Ford Field unique, says the architect of the $500-million, 1.8-million-sf Downtown stadium.

By Robert Carr | Updated on August 21, 2002

DETROIT-Ford Field, the new home to the Detroit Lions, will offer a lot of new amenities to fans. The $500-million, 1.8-million-sf stadium opens in Downtown this Saturday for its first game, a preseason contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Lions previously played in the Pontiac Silverdome, about 25 miles north of Detroit However, the Ford family, known also as the founders and owners of Ford Motor Co., ecided to build a new stadium in Detroit next to the new Detroit Tigers baseball park.

Ford Field will be unique in that it will be the only football stadium that has an open view to the outside. The stadium has a wide-open window that allows fans inside to look out onto the Downtown Detroit skyline, says Paul Tonti, vice president of Detroit-based SmithGroup Inc. the chief architect on the project.

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