This is the exact same thing as the rodeo only they retained the roof, which is going to look flipping amazing with choreographed leds on the roof.
Houston's geography diversity is lacking so it would have been awesome to have a Outdoor Extreme Sports Park/Resort of sorts. Artificial river, lake, mounds, rocks, etc... A place to go rock climbing, rappelling, bouldering, spelunking, kayaking, white water rafting, cave diving, mountain biking, mountaineering/hiking, etc... Work with competitive outdoor sports associations with approved designs and build a hotel/resort and you could have competitions touring throughout the year and a really cool amenity for the city. Construction is feasible too because they build similar sites like this for the Olympic competitions for example, white water courses. Without grand stands of course. A shame no one is interested in something like this. It would be awesome.
Why are there trees in the picture? They plan on ripping up valuable fenced in parking spaces for trees? LOL The sad fact is NONE of these plans will ever happen because the Dome is fenced in. Getting in and out is heavily regulated. The Texans need to approve any changes, and they won't give up parking or let peons have free access to their facility.
[rquoter]A PEEK AT THE COUNTY'S IMAGE FOR A REHABBED ASTRODOME On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners will take a look at the new plan to save the Astrodome and you can see it right here. This plan will save the dome, but it falls far short of some of the dreams discussed in years past. It's not a water park, not an inside park, not a fully equipped event center. It's nine acres of indoor open space on top of 1,400 covered parking spaces -- and will cost $105 million in government cash. Voters may wonder why a new plan is being pushed since 53 percent of voters in 2013 turned down a $213 million referendum to renovate and convert the 'Eighth Wonder of the World' into a state-of-the-art convention center and exhibition space known as the 'New Dome Experience.' The reason? This plan does not require any private investors, according to county officials, who add that if the plan is approved by county commissioners the dome makeover won't require a tax increase for you at all. County brass hope parking will generate some revenue to pay for the deal. And they say new tenants may emerge once the parking and the open 'programmable' space is completed. The plan will build two layers of parking which start on what is now the floor of the dome. You could theoretically park your truck where Nolan Ryan pitched or Earl Campbell ran. Another layer of parking on that and then the new floor. Just a floor. Giant conventions could rent it. The rodeo carnival could use to, too. But there's a catch: The $105 million price tag does not buy air conditioning. We did confirm the dome will have ventilation, at least. Commissioners will be asked to approve the plan later this year. No construction would take place before next year's Super Bowl. And if timing goes perfectly, county officials said, the rehabbed Astrodome would be ready to go by early 2020. Spoiler [/rquoter]
This plan is "1,400 covered parking spaces -- and will cost $105 million" UH just built a 2,400 space garage for 26 million.
The problem is tearing it down would cost nearly 30 million dollars by itself. It's not a normal structure and if you just tore it down it would leave a giant hole in the ground.
So 30 million is 75 million cheaper than a hugely inefficient poorly ventilated parking garage. And it opens up more tailgating space.
A terrible idea.... the "space" will go unused, and it will simply be an underground parking lot that is likely harder to get in/out of than a surface lot. Also wondering who's really excited to park their cars in an area of zero tail-gating... or perhaps they try and just finally burn the whole damn thing down.
The worst idea presented so far and I'm including tearing it down. So unimaginative and useless. All of the previous ideas to re-purpose blow this out of the water.
Plenty of stadiums were built just like this... and have been torn down and filled without any issues. $105 million + upkeep for essentially just parking and unused "space" (that isn't needed) just sounds dumb. Hell, if they decided to make the entire thing a parking lot, it would still be a better idea than what they are proposing. Again, who is going to choose to have the headache of parking in a likely difficult to navigate, traffic-riddled, dark/underground area on game-day? Most of the fun of going to Texans games is being part of the outdoor festivities.
This parking angle really has me thinking that good 'ole boy judge emmett has some skin in the game. he won't give in even though the people have spoken.
