Joe Louis Arena expected to be demolished by 2020, officials say

(FOX 2) - It has been standing on Detroit’s waterfront for 40-years, but soon the Joe Louis Arena will be permanently down for the count.

The demolition process will soon start on “The Joe” and the Red Wings played their last game there in 2017- before moving to Little Caesars Arena. 

Officials say taking down and removing “The Joe” will cost around $10 million. 

Right now, crews are in the early stages of the demolition process.

“So, right now they are removing the exterior panels for the demolition. That should take about two to three months, in which time then only thing that will be left standing are the steel columns, the roof and the lower bowl of the Joe and at that time, that’s when we will begin the next phase of demolition where we would determine which methodology we will you to demolish the rest of the building,” said Detroit Building Authority Senior Project Manager, Donna Rice. 

 The whole process is expected to be completed by early 2020.