[animatedmartian]

Red Wings, officials celebrate groundbreaking of arena, Detroit District
By Bill Shea. Crain's Detroit Business. September 25, 2014.



Under an unusually warm late September sun, construction of the future home of the Detroit Red Wings got underway this afternoon with a ceremonial groundbreaking at the venue’s Woodward Avenue and Fisher Freeway location.

Inside an elaborate temporary arena-like area built from shipping containers, and in front of several hundred dignitaries, media and employees of the Red Wings and sibling companies, a traditional shovel-turning by Gov. Rick Snyder, Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit City Council President Pro-Tem George Cushingberry and Ilitch Holdings Inc. President and CEO Christopher Ilitch launched the $650 million project, which also includes plans for a 45-block entertainment district.

The ceremony included thanks and congratulations, prayers by local clergy, and a performance of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” by Larry Callahan & Selected of God choir.

Site prep and demolition work is scheduled for this fall, with heavy earth-moving to begin in the spring.

The ring of shipping containers, which were festooned with imagery for the event, will be used throughout the project as part of an “itinerant public art exhibition,” the Ilitches said in materials provided for the event.

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