Demolition of Cobo Arena begins to make way for overhaul of convention center
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2012 ... z1raX84vkR
Detroit— Along the downtown riverfront Thursday morning, a giant crane began to tear down the wall separating Cobo Center and the former Cobo Arena, smashing one of the last physical remains of the legendary concert venue.
The space is part of a nearly $300 million renovation of the entire convention center expected to be completed by 2014, though major parts of it will be ready next year. The former 12,000-seat Cobo Arena will get glass walls and an atrium that will turn it into a state-of-the-art event and banquet space with sweeping views of the Detroit River and the city skyline.
Bands such as The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Prince and Madonna played at the venue.
Cobo Arena was a steep, round bowl, so the sound didn't carom around a vast arena, but would bounce off the wall of humanity packed in seats going almost vertically upward from the risers.
The 1999 film "Detroit Rock City" showed how Cobo ranked in the music world. In a scene where the bedazzled Kiss fans arrive in Detroit, the camera flashes on iconic local landmarks: the (then) General Motors Building in the New Center area, Ford headquarters, Motown Records and lastly — the holy of holies — Cobo Hall.
