Red Wings break ground on new arena in Detroit

By @StefanKubus – 

On the 88th anniversary of Detroit landing an NHL franchise, ground was broken Thursday afternoon to continue that rich, lasting tradition in Hockeytown.

Last week, a $450 million plan was approved last week and, today, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and President and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Inc. Christopher Ilitch were among those gathered at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Sibley Street in downtown Detroit to officially mark the future home of Detroit Red Wings hockey.

“I can tell you as a person who has worked on a bridge project for quite a while, when I talk to my colleagues in Canada, we love each other except when I mention that Detroit is Hockeytown,” Snyder said. “It’s a tradition we want to continue and we should be so proud of, to have that location here.”

Snyder, Duggan and Ilitch were all quick to point out the effort that the elder Ilitch, Mike, brought to kickstart the entire project. Mike Ilitch, the longtime owner of the Red Wings and founder of Little Caesars Pizza, was not on-hand for the event.

“I came to Detroit first in 1982, my first job out of school, and Detroit was in serious issue back then, but during those ‘80s, there was a family that stepped up, that said, ‘We believe in Detroit. We believe in doing something special,” Snyder said of the Ilitch family and its legacy.

The Red Wings have called Joe Louis Arena ‘home’ since around that time – 1979 to be exact – making it the fourth oldest NHL venue after Edmonton’s Rexall Place, Long Island’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and New York’s Madison Square Garden. But by 2017 (barring any delay), the Red Wings will have the freshest arena in the league after what will ultimately be 36 memorable seasons and 2,921 regular season games.

While the arena is certainly the centerpiece of the rejuvenation, it’s still one part of an overall transformation in the area – and one of five new neighborhoods – that will see the birth of new residential and commercial properties. This project is expected to boost what is already a city on the rise once again, thanks to an additional $200 million investment from Olympia Development.

“This is our one shot, our one opportunity to build a world-class sports and entertainment district in the heart of Detroit, one that rivals anything in our country,” Ilitch said, playing off of Eminem’s hit song “Lose Yourself” as sung on site by Larry Callahan and Selected of God choir.

And with these new business opportunities undoubtedly come new job opportunities, something the governor and city mayor both pointed out as the biggest positive economic impact going forward.

“What we are seeing in a partnership between the Ilitch family and the city, we’ve got 3,000 construction jobs come into this site,” Duggan said. “We are working in partnership with the city agencies and we have set a goal together that 51-percent of all those jobs will go to Detroiters.”

When asked about just what the impact of this new district will be, Governor Snyder replied quite simply.

“This project is all about jobs, all about helping put Detroiters to work.”