Under the proposal, a three- or four-story addition would be built on the northwest corner of the Palace at an estimated cost of $15 million to $20 million, according to Tom Wilson, president of Palace Sports & Entertainment. Construction could begin in April or May and would take about a year to finish. Games at the Palace would not be affected during construction. "We're still a few months away from deciding whether it's a go or a no-go," Wilson says.
The Palace can seat 22,076 spectators for basketball games, and the new construction would probably not add to its capacity, Wilson says. The Palace was built in 1988 with $70 million in private money.
Wilson says the Pistons are looking at adding suites that companies could use for entertaining but that don't have a view of the court. More restaurants are also needed to handle the growing number of fans at Pistons' games. "The ones we have now," Wilson says, "are full all the time."
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