Ugh. Lina Hidalgo wasn't elected, per se, which is why straight ticket voting is gone. Fun Fact: Lina Hidalgo didn't even know what the Astrodome was in 2018...
https://www.click2houston.com/news/2019/11/20/what-happened-to-potential-plans-for-the-astrodome/ “The plan that had been designed wouldn’t have yielded, truly a usable building,” said Hidalgo. “It’s just not something that would have made it competitive against convention centers elsewhere.” Hidalgo said she also felt the idea for a parking garage would not work. “If you put in more parking you’re just going to get more congestion,” said Hidalgo. In other words, that plan died. “Right now we don’t have specific plans for the Astrodome,” said Hidalgo. “It’s just not a priority right now.” Hidalgo said issues like flooding and criminal justice reform take precedent over finding new ways to use the Astrodome. Hidalgo was also blunt in stating tax payer dollars could be better spent elsewhere in the county. “We’d have to do a lot of work to understand what the right project is, we’d have to do a lot of community engagement,” said Hidalgo. “That would take a whole process that right now is just not a priority.” However, executive director of the Astrodome Conservancy, Beth Wiedower Jackson said work is underway to identify new plans and secure private funding sources. “It’s not a quick fix, we all know that,” said Jackson. Jackson said her organization is working on market research that will hopefully provide a more targeted answer as to what Houstonians would like to see happen with the Dome, along with a way to form a public/private partnership when it comes to financing. “Is that a year or two down the road before there is a plan on paper for folks to actually consider, probably so,” said Jackson. “They’re are some wonderfully creative and off-the-wall ideas. The rub has been the financing.” Hidalgo said she is open to the Conservancy looking for new ideas. “They’ll help lead the identification of a better project that will not put the burden on our limited budget,” said Hidalgo.
It’s crazy to me they don’t need just blow it up, clear the land and use it for simple parking or sell it. It has zero historical significance to me beyond bringing me great memories. It’s the the Coliseum, it’s not the Empire State Building. Find a decent use for it 10+ years ago that makes sense, great. But that hasn’t but happened over and over. Move on. I’m sure it will cost way more than $100k to demolish it. But over the next 10 years when nothing happens except $100k+ a year to maintain plus millions spent on plans that never come to fruition, etc. sell it to developers....
Jesus Christ we're back to square one. The ineptitude of this back and forth fighting of plans for this damn building is getting tiresome, and I am a major supporter of keeping the Dome around. However, its starting to wear me down. Tear it down. Build a park there and monument the bases/base lines. Put a fountain where the pitching mound is or whatever.
All those events and he leaves out the Thrill Show and Destruction Derby...especially the one where the dude died after dropping in a barrel from the top of the Dome into a pool. I was there. It was crazy.
He's made a bunch of these stadium, isn't from Houston, and the Astrodome is by far the one he went the most in on.
He got a lot of flack on Twitter for doing the dome post-rennovation (dumb Bud Adams). By that point, he was too far in to shift gears, thus why he put the old scoreboard display on the video screens. In the end, its still wildly depressing that the structure just sits there, dead. There is not a viable plan in place that supports keeping it long term. Its become too political to really have a straightforward discussion on what to do.... but the more years that go by, even the staunchest of defenders have to realize that at some point you have to call it.
Lol why didn't that get done before Hidalgo? Like in 2003-2018. They seem to one to pinpoint it all to Lina when the truth is the Astrodome should have taken a wrecking ball decades ago. The demons of the Adams family lurks so close.
