Joe Louis Arena (“The Joe”)

“The Joe” was never pretty — critics called it a fat concrete submarine wedged between the river, the convention center, and a freeway — but for 38 years it was sacred. Mayor Coleman Young willed it into existence in 1979 to keep the Red Wings downtown, and it rewarded the city with the greatest era in franchise history: Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008 (two of them clinched right here), plus the bench-clearing “Fight Night at the Joe” rivalry with Colorado.

The Wings played their final game at the Joe in 2017 and moved to Little Caesars Arena; demolition finished in 2020. The riverfront site is being reborn as Water Square — a 25-story luxury apartment tower already open, a 600-room JW Marriott on the way. The fitting final tribute: the street running past it is now named Steve Yzerman Drive, after the captain who lifted three of those Cups. The arena’s gone, but the Captain still marks the spot.