When the Pontiac Silverdome was built for $55 million in 1975, it hosted some 80,000 Detroit Lions fans every Sunday.
But since 2002, when the Lions moved to nearby Ford Field in Detroit, the stadium has become an empty ruin and a symbol of the urban decay that has consumed parts of the area in recent years.
Recently 19-year-old budding BMX rider and Michigan native Tyler Fernengel used the dilapidated structure to make a video for Red Bull. The venue is currently for sale for $30 million. The group that owns it sold off things like "end-zone turf, scoreboards and copper wiring" at an auction last year, the Detroit Free Press reports, leaving the building essentially empty. The images of Fernengel's high-flying session depict a stark contrast between the energy of youth and the ghosts of a forgotten past.
Here are the jarring photos of Fernengel's session, courtesy of Red Bull:
Fernengel, who's from Detroit, told RedBull.com that the stadium is like a war zone:
"The last time I was inside the Silverdome was nine years ago — at the last amateur Supercross race I attended when I was 10. When I showed up to scope for the shoot, so many memories were coming back. Just sitting in the tunnel — where you come out on the track and where the players would run out — I remembered sitting there, years ago, with my dad and all the other kids. It brought back a lot of good memories. Being out on the field, it was crazy to think that there once was a motorcycle track there, every year, with all the fans, but now it’s nowhere near the same — it’s like a war zone."
Watch the full video of Fernengel's session here:
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