I know it sounds lame, but believe me, if you've ever been to the Gaylord Texan, it's really pretty bad ass. Like I said earlier, it's like having a San Antonio riverwalk...with air conditioning. Lots of shops, bars, restaurants, bars, sidewalk cafe's, bars, music venues, bars etc. The best part is that people from out of town will spend their money there. They sure do in Grapevine. This picture doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea...
ima -- i agree. the hotel itself becomes a destination....because of what it was and what it is. imagine you're in charge of planning a large convention. you're choosing venues. this is one where the hotel can be attached to the convention center, as is the case in many hotels. but in this one, there are a ton of entertainment options. you don't have people driving all over town (one of the complaints of conventioners coming to houston)....and if they want to venture off, the light rail line is a short walk away. it's compact with lots of options. that's a great idea.
I like the idea if Houston wants to have more events like the Essence festival, allstar games, NCAA Tournaments they are going to need a place like this where people can gather without driving all over town, which was a big complaint of people attending the recent Essence festival.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4059186.html Dome plan gets preliminary OK Planners hope to secure financing in six months for conversion to hotel By BILL MURPHY Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Entrepreneurs seeking to turn the Reliant Astrodome into an upscale convention hotel hope to secure financing in six months and begin work on gutting and remaking the legendary Houston venue next summer. Scott Hanson, president of Astrodome Redevelopment Corp., laid out the timetable after his project was given preliminary approval by the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp.'s board Wednesday. Hanson and the other partners in Astrodome Redevelopment are poised to invest $450 million to turn the world's first domed stadium into a 1,200-room hotel with winding waterways, gondolas and nightclubs. "We've done a lot of studies. We had to convince ourselves first that this will be a success," he said. Before the project can go forward, the Sports & Convention Corp.'s board and the county Commissioners Court will have to approve final construction plans and a contract with Astrodome Redevelopment. The county owns the Dome. The massive undertaking would take 30-42 months, meaning it could be finished by 2010. Mike Surface, chairman of the Sports & Convention Corp., said Astrodome Redevelopment has been working nearly three years on a Dome project. The board has looked for ways to save the Dome because so many in the community are attached to the historic building. Initially, Astrodome Redevelopment proposed turning the Dome into an amusement park with a space theme. That plan has given way to the convention hotel. Astrodome Redevelopment team members include URS Corp., one of the country's biggest architectural and engineering firms, and Falcon's Treehouse, a Florida-based theme-and-design firm that touts its work for Hard Rock Cafe. Employees from URS' office in Houston have been active in working on the project
assuming they can get funding, yes. my bet is they were reasonably certain they could get the funding before they got this far. my bet is this is what the astrodome will become.
If it's even half as good as the Gaylord Texan, it'll be a great facility. Good luck. Where is the rodeo being done nowadays? Reliant?
I really hope the Astrodome can be saved and this plan sounds pretty interesting. The Astrodome is one of the most influential structures of the 20th Century and it would be a big loss to architectural history to tear it down.
Come to think of it, a Gaylord-style Astrodome hotel would perfectly fit in during rodeo time. That place, with night clubs and bars would boom druing season. But here's the number one reason why I love this plan......It just bolsters any bid for Reliant Stadium to host any major sporting event....Super Bowl, Final Four, A better College Bowl game, Olympics etc....this is a mixed-use project with over 1,200 hotel rooms in the parking lot of the host venue. And need I forget, there's a convention center in the same parking lot as well. No city in the US can offer a sports complex as complete as this. Few (if any) cities in the world can either. This is every sports franchise owner's dream facaility. This is "Jerry-World" if Jerry Jones would have gotten his way with Dallas Mayor Laura Miller. But she's a stupid b**** and they all suffer..... If they pull this Astrodome hotel off, the entire Reliant complex will be hosting major events for decades to come. Can you imagine what that constant positive exposure could do for this city in the long haul?
absolutely. that's my thought as well. this is huge for drawing in big name events to our city. a city that struggled for years to bring in that sort of event...and the light rail plays a huge role in that, as well.
that's still the biggest convention center in town, since it made it's new additions. there are certain conventions that need to be there. most great convention cities have multiple venues like this.
