The roof of the Pontiac Silverdome has been visibly damaged by strong winds. (WWJ Photo/Bill Szumanski)

By Ashley Dunkak

@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT – Triple Investment Group, which owns the Pontiac Silverdome, announced Tuesday a competition to redesign the site of the dome, the former home of the Detroit Lions.

The winner of the contest will be awarded $3,000, while second place will take home $1,000 and third place will be given $500. There is no fee to submit a design.

April 12 is the deadline for submissions, and the winning design will be announced in May or June.

The announcement of the contest included few specific requirements for design plans for the site, encouraging entrants to be creative.

“This open-ideas design competition aims to examine new visions for a campus of Retail, advanced technology research, development and manufacturing that is integrated within the community, the city and the world,” the investment group stated on the website announcing the contest.

“There are no restrictions regarding boundaries, incorporating the existing Silverdome structure or not, program mix, GFA, height or density. The objective is to provide creative freedom to the participants to engage in the project without constraints. What future lies ahead for the Silverdome site in the 21st Century? Design proposals should be able to make a case for the historical, contextual, social, urban, and environmental responsibilities of these mega-structures.

“Triple Investment Group is committed to stimulating the imagination of designers around the world,” the release continued, “leading a new architectural discourse of economic, environmental, intellectual, and perceptual responsibility that could ultimately modify what we understand as a mixed use campus and/or development, its impact on urban planning and on the improvement of our way of life.”

The Lions left the Silverdome in 2002.