August 20, 1996: Lions announce plans to build new domed stadium in downtown Detroit.
November 5, 1996: Voters in Wayne County overwhelmingly approve a referendum by the largest margin of victory in NFL stadium election history (68-32 percent) which will allow the Detroit Lions to build a domed stadium in downtown Detroit adjacent to a new baseball park for the Detroit Tigers.
November 16, 1999: Lions host groundbreaking ceremony “From the Ground Up” unveiling renderings and officially naming the new stadium, Ford Field.
February 2000: Workers begin installing 380 concrete caissons into the hard pan, which is a densely compacted layer of gravel located approximately 100 feet below the surface that rests on top of the bedrock, to provide stability to the structure of the bowl.
April 17, 2000: Demolition of a 250,000 square-foot portion of the old Hudson’s Warehouse begins. The razed area will be the site of the glass wall located on the southwest corner of Ford Field.
April 24, 2000: Lions award construction contracts. Partnership between Indianapolis, Ind.-based Hunt Construction Group and Detroit-owned Jenkins Construction is contracted to build the majority of Ford Field, including the playing field, seating bowl and roof, and White/Olson, LLC of Detroit is contracted to handle the reconstruction of the Warehouse.
June 13, 2000: Above grade cast-in-place concrete begins to start shaping the stadium’s upper bowl.
September 2000: Below-grade foundation work north of warehouse site is completed.
October 2000: Roof/atrium work begins on warehouse.
November 1, 2000: NFL owners unanimously approve the city of Detroit to host Super Bowl XL at Ford Field February 5, 2006.
November 17, 2000: Detroitlions.com launches Ford Field Web Cam to provide views with real-time updates of construction progress.
November 2000: Lions open new marketing and project office at Harmonie Park in Detroit.
December 2000: Caissons installation completed.
April 28, 2001: First steel lifted 120 feet in southwest corner of stadium to begin assembling roof structure.
October 2001: Upper bowl seats installation begins.
November 2, 2001: First massive roof lift completed. The lift of this magnitude is the first of its kind in the United States. The steel, weighing approximately 2,800 tons (5.6 million lbs.) and spanning 450 feet, is lifted by a computerized system of pulleys, cables and jacks.
December 2001: Workers begin removing approximately 300,000 cubic yards of soil and clay to shape the lower bowl and field level portion of the stadium.
December 16, 2001: Second massive roof truss lift completed.
January 24, 2002: Lions ticket office relocates to downtown office at Harmonie Park in downtown Detroit. Ticket operations scheduled to move into Ford field in Fall 2002.
February 11, 2002: Lions ticket office begins season ticket holders seat relocation process. First appointments include accounts dating back to 1950.
March 28, 2002: NFL releases 2002 schedule, with the Lions hosting the Green Bay Packers September 22 in the inaugural regular season game at Ford Field.
May 2002: Video boards installed.
May 1, 2002: Installation of lower bowl seats begins.
May 2, 2002: Ford Field announces Levy Restaurants as its official caterer and concessionaire at a food testing at the Harmonie Park Ford Field Project.
May 7, 2002: Ford Field slates The Rolling Stones as the stadium’s first major concert scheduled for October 12, 2002.
Projects completed in June 2002:
- Installation of all upper bowl and suite seats.
- Two 97 feet-by-27 feet LED digital video scoreboards installed.
- Bathrooms completed.
- Concession stands outfitted with equipment.
- Carpet installed in banquet rooms, suites and press box.
- Brick-like concrete pathways poured to for glass wall (southwest) atrium.
- One-half of field level construction completed.
- One-half of seats in the lower bowl installed.
- Brick paving of Adams Street begins.
Project completed in July 2002:
- Three-quarters of field level poured.
- Final one-quarter of field level graded and prepared.
- Lower-bowl seating installation continues.
- Roof membrane (a type of skin-like finish) installed.
- East side upper glass wall finished.
- Fixtures in suites installed and cleaned.
- Kitchen equipment calibrated.
- Stadium sound system installed in roof structure.
- White baffling material from ceiling hanged to reduce acoustic distortion.
- Roof installation completed.
- Sound and video system and scoreboard calibrated.
- Seat cup holders installed.
- Main glass wall (southwest) atrium glass installed.
Projects completed in August 2002:
- Lions move Harmonie Park offices into Ford Field warehouse.
- Stadium exterior brick walkways paved.
- Final section of field level poured.
- FieldTurf installed.
- Stadium exterior landscaped.
- Ford Field stadium staff trained.
