The Astrodome actually is more architecturally important than Yankee Stadium or Boston Garden. It was the first large scale dome structure and was revolutionary in it's design but hey who cares about history lets get some more parking. Pretty much just another example of our throwaway society. Anyway I doubt the dome can be taken down for the price proposed. An implosion could potentially damage the foundation of Reliant and there is also asbestos and some other potentially toxic materials in it. These issues have been raised in other studies and I am not sure how the current proposal plans to get around them. If they are going to take the dome down most likely it will have to be dismantled with asbestos abatement taking place at the same time.
thats the bull**** im talking about, who gives a **** about any of that.. tearing it down would be the first step into getting something done.. eventually maybe a plaza can be built, with some nice hotels and areas to host future events in and around reliant that would benefit the texans, international soccer events, final fours, super bowls, and the rodeo. all these renovations arent realistic ideas they will never get done and probably be a waste of money. spending hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain the structure so some old folks can feel good about themselves.. ridiculous..
I bet bob won't be willing to give any over run guarantees. Once the city starts and they realize it is going to be 60 million they will be stuck.
8th Wonder of the World So toxic it cost more to tear it down than to fix it. Just blow that piece of **** up already and I grew up going to games there.
Would you prefer it just sits there and collects mold like it's been doing for the last 10 years? Just so we can look at the outside of it when we go to Texans games at Reliant?
Its taking a super bowl bid to finally get progress on it. Should have been torn down right before reliant stadium was built.
Get rid of it. And seriously, anything they DO put there other than a nice flat bunch of parking spaces would be money thrown down a toilet. It's one of the worst locations in the city, and anything they do put there as some kind of 'attraction, I know one thing for sure, I will never go.
What LA did with Staples Center really revitalized downtown. I don't see why Houston couldn't do something similar with the old Astroworld grounds and the Astrodome. Light rail is there, the bridge is there, the attraction is there... though I'm sure there are political behind the scenes agendas related to the locations stopping any ideas from moving forward.
Well, when the Dome has crumbled into ruins in a couple of centuries, it'll definitely be a tourist attraction.
County official questions dome demolition price By Kiah Collier March 22, 2013 12:34 AM Harris County officials on Thursday disputed an estimate released this week showing it would cost $29 million to implode the vacant Reliant Astrodome and build a 1,600-space parking lot in two and a half years. The figure, calculated by local firms Linbeck Construction and Walter P. Moore and Associates after a three-month study commissioned by the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, is less than half the estimated price tag released last year by consultants hired by the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., the county agency that runs Reliant Park. During a media tour of the 48-year-old condemned facility on Thursday, Sports Corp. Chairman Edgar Colon suggested that the latest estimate did not take into account all the costs that would be incurred in blowing up the behemoth structure, on which the county still owes some $30 million in construction debt but has sat vacant since 2000 when the Houston Astros moved to Minute Maid Park downtown. "There's more to it than just $29 million," Colon said. "You have to look through it, the things that they exclude explicitly. I'm not challenging the credibility of their experts, I'm just saying that we have to have our own experts look at those numbers." Linbeck Vice President John Go said the firms stand by the findings of the study and the price tag. "The Houston Texans and the Rodeo asked us to develop a methodology and a report that will stand up against questions because they knew that someone might question it," Go said, noting that Walter P. Moore was the structural engineer when the stadium was built in the mid-1960s and again when it was expanded in 1989. Go said they consulted more than a half dozen local companies and specialty subcontractors, including for asbestos removal, demolition and filling the more than 30-foot-deep hole that would be left after razing the structure. Filling that hole would take nine months, Go said, and - at $11.7 million - would be the single largest line item in the project budget. Rodeo Chief Operating Officer Leroy Shafer said both parties vetted the findings "three times, and I can assure you there is nothing left out of this study." Sports Corp. Executive Director Willie Loston said it would take a few weeks for the agency to review the proposal and determine whether it is something it would consider bringing to Harris County Commissioner's Court, which will ultimately decide what to do with the facility. Harris County spends upwards of $2 million a year to insure and maintain the dome, which was declared unfit for occupancy by the city in 2009. Dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" when it opened in 1965, the Dome, as Thursday's tour for the news media showed, now is being used as a storage facility. On and around the field were boxes of folding chairs, about 20 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo jumbo golf carts and sections of the dark blue, movable seats that are placed on the sidelines during Houston Texans games at Reliant Stadium. The rest of the vast structure is dusty but generally empty. Pressed by reporters, Colon declined to give a firm time line for when the agency may bring a proposal to commissioners but said he hopes it does not take more than five years. Colon said part of the reason the decision has been delayed is that interest from developers in rehabilitating the site dropped off during the recession, but he said it is increasing again with the improving economy, and the Sports Corp. is receiving and evaluating new ideas. "What I think is that it's in the best interest of the taxpayer to continue to explore all the options in order to make a decision," said Colon, who brushed off concerns raised by the Texans and Rodeo that the aging, vacant Astrodome would hurt Houston's chances of getting to host the Super Bowl in 2017. Some county commissioners agreed with Colon, saying they appreciate the report but do not feel particular pressure to make a quick decision. "My mind is still open for all options," Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Cagle said. "I'm looking for that one that rings the bell of truth and says 'Yes, this is it.' " Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack said deciding what to do with the Dome is not a high priority and questioned the "accuracy" of the new estimate as too low. "We got a heck of a lot of pressing problems," Radack said. "The Astrodome is not what you call a pressing problem." http://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...l-questions-dome-demolition-price-4374981.php
This is not the first time the media has been given access to explore the Astrodome in its current state. I'm pretty jealous and I think that's unfair that they get the opportunity to do that. I would like the opportunity to walk around the dome and see how things are now. I'm sure lots of other folks would too.
It's structurally unsound and no fire marshall would ever allow a member of the general public to enter. Journalists are there for a story, not pure nostalgia. And, according to a thread on Reddit, it smells like death. Years of no a/c and asbestos will do that in Houston.
Yep. Just turned on the TV and 1977 movie Bad news Bears is on when they shot the movie in the dome. Brings back memories, even that giant Coca Cola classic and Malbro billboard. Made me smile but it's time to move on.
^^ Thanks for the linkage. The writer gets a little too romantic about the enduring legacy of the Astrodome, but he did mention a UH architectural student's idea... which is actually pretty snazzy: <script src="http://www.khou.com/templates/belo_embedWrapper.js?storyid=200138171&pos=top&swfw=470"></script><object name="player" id="_fp_0.9456370836123824" width="470" height="264" data="http://swfs.bimvid.com/player-3.2.15.swf?x-bim-callletters=KHOU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> <param value="true" name="allowfullscreen"/> <param value="always" name="allowscriptaccess"/> <param value="transparent" name="wmode"/> <param value="high" name="quality"/> <param name="movie" value="http://swfs.bimvid.com/player-3.2.15.swf?x-bim-callletters=KHOU" /> <param value="config=http://www.khou.com/?j=embed_200138171&ref=http://www.khou.com/news/cnn/UH-grad-student-presents-masters-thesis-on-saving-iconic-Astrodome--200138171.html" name="flashvars"/></object><script src="http://www.khou.com/templates/belo_embedWrapper.js?storyid=200138171&pos=bottom&ref=http://www.khou.com/news/cnn/UH-grad-student-presents-masters-thesis-on-saving-iconic-Astrodome--200138171.html"></script> Two months old, but new to me. I'm not sure I'm getting the embed to work, so here's the linkage: http://www.khou.com/news/cnn/UH-gra...is-on-saving-iconic-Astrodome--200138171.html
