The Red Wings had been playing at
Olympia Stadium since 1927. However, by the late 1970s, the neighborhood around the Olympia had gradually deteriorated, especially after the
1967 Detroit riot. In 1977, the Red Wings announced that they would be moving to a proposed arena in suburban
Pontiac. However, the city of Detroit countered with a proposal for a new riverfront arena in which they would charge the Red Wings much lower rent than what Pontiac was offering. The package also gave the team operational control of the arena, nearby
Cobo Arena and parking lots. The Red Wings ultimately decided to stay in Detroit proper. The arena hosted its first event on December 12, 1979: a college basketball game between the
University of Michigan and the
University of Detroit. The Red Wings' first win at the arena came on December 30, 1979, where they defeated the
New York Islanders 4–2. Later that season, it hosted the 32nd
NHL All-Star Game on February 5, 1980, which was played before a then-NHL record crowd of 21,002. Joe Louis Arena was the site of the
1987 NHL entry draft, which marked the first NHL Entry Draft to be held in the United States. on March 9, 2007 In 1990, color matrix boards were installed on the scoreboard; these were replaced by four Sony
JumboTron video walls three years later, when the matrix boards were placed in the corners of the fascia. In 2006, LED video screens replaced the JumboTrons. The screens debuted November 22, 2006, when the Red Wings played the
Vancouver Canucks. That same day, the arena's West Entrance was named the "
Gordie Howe Entrance" in honor of the legendary Red Wing player, and a bronze statue of Howe was placed inside the entrance. Joe Louis Arena housed 86 premium suites. In 2008, the arena introduced the Comerica Bank Legend's Club, a 181-person private seating location in the arena's southeast corner.
Replacement and demolition On July 20, 2014, following the July 2013 approval of a $650 million project to build a new sports and entertainment district in Downtown Detroit, Christopher Ilitch unveiled designs for
a new arena near
Comerica Park and
Ford Field which was completed in 2017 and succeeded Joe Louis Arena as the home of the Red Wings. On October 16, 2014, lawyers involved in the ongoing
Detroit bankruptcy case disclosed
in court that after demolition, which will be paid for by the city and state, the land on which the arena stands, along with an adjacent parking lot, will be transferred to the
Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), a bond insurer with a $1 billion claim against the city. The Red Wings' final game at Joe Louis Arena was played on April 9, 2017, against the
New Jersey Devils. The final game at the arena also served as then Red Wings' captain
Henrik Zetterberg's
1,000th game. The Red Wings won 4–1, the final goal in the arena's history coming from Red Wings forward
Riley Sheahan. It was the second of two he scored, which were also the only goals he scored at all during the 2016–17 season. On the same day, the family of
Bob Probert, a former Red Wing who died in 2010, spread his ashes inside the Red Wings penalty box. The last ticketed event held was a
WWE Live event, held on July 29, 2017. Due to the arena's proximity to Cobo Center, now
Huntington Place, it was dismantled traditionally rather than
imploded. The arena's property is being redeveloped as Water Square, a development that includes a 25-story high-rise apartment building completed in 2024, == Other tenants and events ==