Photos: Crews tear down former Big Boy in downtown Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Work is underway to demolish the Big Boy in downtown Grand Rapids to make way for the new soccer stadium.
Big Boy closed back in December of 2023 after serving up burgers on Pearl Street near US-131 since 1964. The property was later donated to the Downtown Development Authority, to be used for the soccer stadium project.
When a News 8 crew stopped by Friday afternoon, crews had knocked down about half of the former restaurant's exterior. A bulldozer was working to clear out the wreckage.
What to know as construction starts on Grand Rapids soccer stadium
See photos of crews demolishing the former Big Boy:
Crews broke ground last month on the $175 million, 8,500-seat Amway Soccer Stadium. It's being built on an 8-acre site along US-131 near Pearl Street, which includes the land Big Boy is sitting on.
It will host games for the yet-to-be-named team in the Major League Soccer Next Pro league, plus other community events like concerts and potentially other sports. The development is expected to draw some 160,000 people downtown each year and have a $408 million economic impact for the city in its first 30 years.
Inside WOODTV.com: Building West Michigan
Construction is expected to take about two years, with the goal of having the stadium ready for the soccer team in the spring of 2027.
The development also includes an 18-story Stadium District Tower with restaurants, shops, apartments and offices, and a pedestrian skybridge at the intersection of Lake Michigan Drive and Winter Avenue that would connect the downtown YMCA and the Grand Valley State University Seward Parking Lot.
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