The Detroit Pistons are about to get some upgrades to the Palace of Auburn Hills prior to the start of the 2012-13 NBA season. Tom Gores owns the Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment, and his first sizable contribution to improving the Palace since purchasing the team in 2011 is going to be a pretty big one.

According to the Detroit News, improvements to the Palace will cost between $13-15 million, paid for through Palace Sports & Entertainment:

Palace officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon that a remodeling project, including the main concourse and 100-level concourse and removal of 16 suites in the 300 level - replaced with an open-air lounge - will be completed by the time the Pistons tip off the 2012-13 season.

All in all, there are some solid contributions on top of the open-air lounge, which sounds cool on its own. There's to be new sound systems and lighting, hospitality areas, wireless internet access and digital menu boards, according to the report. There's also some other improvements that could be live by the end of 2013, such as remodeled entrances to the west and east atriums.

The Palace did receive some improvements in 2006, when the $30 million Comcast Pavilion was completed. Work is underway at this point so fans can enjoy the improvements by the time the season gets started. The venue isn't necessarily needing improvements desperately like some others in the league, but it's a solid start to improvements made by Gores.