FLINT – A piece of The Palace of Auburn Hills is coming to Flint.
Actually, several thousand pieces.
When the Dort Financial Center reopens – it’s currently closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic – patrons are going to see some big changes in the 51-year-old arena.
The building is in the process of installing almost 4,000 seats that were removed from The Palace before it was imploded last summer. Palace owner Tom Gores, who grew up in Genesee, donated the black vinyl seats, which are part of a renovation worth $2 million that is expected to be finished by Christmas.
They replace the old red and blue seats, giving the arena a sleek look.
While the seats were free, arena owner Rolf Nilsen paid for their removal, transportation to Flint and installation.
“I think the fans are going to be blown away,” said arena general manager Jeremy Torrey, who first approached The Palace in 2017 about getting the seats. “It’s just a continuation of Rolf’s commitment to the community.”
Nilsen, who also owns the Flint Firebirds, already spent $5 million to upgrade the arena when he purchased it in 2015. The upgrades included new concession stands, new locker rooms, new lighting, a new video scoreboard, new hockey boards and a new press box to accommodate NHL scouts.
LED boards are still be installed above the new seats at Flint's Dort Financial Center. (Brendan Savage | MLive.com)
The new renovations include the LED ribbons that circled The Palace. They’re capable of being used for advertising, out-of-town hockey scores and “pretty much anything,” Torrey said.
There will be two sets of LED ribbons circling Arena I. One will be above the seats where the section numbers were located and a larger one will be above that. Nilsen purchased the LED ribbons from The Palace. There will also be large LED boards above the doors at each end of the arena’s lobby.
Torrey said the arena also purchased concession and bar equipment – among other things – from The Palace. New wood risers for the seats in the lower bowl have been built and are in the process of being painted.
Fans can get a piece of the keepsake from the arena by purchasing one the old seats. They’re for sale – the prices are $25 and $50 depending on the style – by setting up an appointment with Torrey at jeremy@dorteventcenter.com.
“We’ve got a pretty good response so far,” Torrey said.
Some of the old seats have already spoken for as Firebirds’ season ticket holders received one free as a perk for supporting the team.
Torrey won’t know for sure how the building’s seating capacity will be impacted until all of the seats are installed but he expects it to be pretty close to the 3,965 it could accomodate before the renovations.
As of right now, there are no plans to put new seats into Arena II.
Normally, the Firebirds’ season would be well under way by now but these are uncertain times with the coronavirus impacting everything.
Training camp is slated to being Jan. 23 with the first game tentatively scheduled for Feb. 4.
But many things still have to be worked out before the Firebirds can hit the ice. They include deciding whether fans will be allowed to watch games live and if teams will be allowed to cross the American-Canadian border, which is currently closed to non-essential traffic.
“The most important thing is the health and safety of the players,” said Torrey, who is also the Firebirds’ team president. “They’re really looking at every possible scenario to see if there’s a path forward.
“It really ultimately is going to come down to if it can be done safely.”
Finally, the new renovations might put to rest the rumors that Nilsen is going to move the team.
“I don’t know if those will ever end,” Torrey said with a chuckle.
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