The Palace (Deadline Detroit photo)
The Palace (Deadline Detroit photo)
It looks all but certain the Detroit Pistons will be moving from Auburn Hills to Detroit next season, leaving behind The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Auburn Hills Mayor Auburn Hills Mayor Kevin McDaniel doesn't sound worried, and issued a statement on Monday, taking into consideration that Pistons owner Tom Gores is likely to raze The Palace and sell the land, Matthew B. Mowery of the Oakland Press.
"To us, this is disappointing but it also provides us with new opportunities. My colleagues on city council and I have the utmost confidence in our leadership team to work with Palace ownership should they discontinue use of the arena or elect to redevelop the site."
“It is important to recognize that the city’s $56M total annual budget includes total annual tax revenue from the arena of approximately $174,000; in other words, the sky is not falling.”
“While I am disappointed to hear Mr. Gores talk in terms of a likely departure, I am proud of the fact that we have been (the Pistons’) home town since 1988, and have provided attentive service to The Palace through our methods of delivering police and emergency medical services along with traffic management and maintaining the infrastructure in and around The Palace. It has always been our position that the arena’s private ownership is a model that should be duplicated throughout the country. The private sector built it, and the private sector profited from its operation.”