To take advantage of rotation of the earth you launch rockets east. So having them more southern and with an ocean to the east is better. Could you guys stop talking about NASA in an Astrodome thread? I basically refuse to take foreign visitors to NASA anymore based on how disappointing they are. They have all heard of Houston from NASA, want to go, and always think it sucked.
Not sure what they would expect... but to get the thread back on track, I guarantee you they'd be just as disappointed with an Astrodome parking garage...
The most impressive thing about NASA is all the cool stuff flying in and out of Ellington. Every once in a while I see the Super Guppy taking off from Ellington Field. I enjoy watching the NASA jocks zip around over Clear Lake having fun in their T-38's too. For the right person, the single most impressive attraction in Houston is the Rothko Chapel. But you need someone who knows in advance who Mark Rothko was. I don't see the Astrodome having any lasting value except as a cultural artifact for people who were alive in the 60's and 70's, and that is an ever diminishing group. For "the kids" who weren't even born when the Astros moved downtown I don't know what the attraction would be. They demolished the Shamrock Hotel, which was about as much of a landmark as anything in this city. If we can survive that, we can survive loosing the Dome. I actually think it's legend will fare much more favorably in memory than it would if we leave the bloated rotting whale carcass sitting on the beach decaying. In 50 years, it will be just another piece of moldering mid-century modern junk, like a whole lot of architecture around Houston. I love me some mid-century modern, but it doesn't age well. It'll never have the decaying gravitas that ancient Greek ruins like the acropolis does 1000 years from now. It'll just start to look like a whole lot of the decaying junky old warehouses you see if you head east from the Dome on 610.
Space City!! Spoiler Back on topic Houston's worldwide landmark, ASTRODOME, shall live forever!! Eight Wonder of the WORLD Spoiler
More like VIP garage parking. Something that doesn't exist right now at NRG Park. Plus the ability to use the floor of the Astrodome for conventions/concerts/festivals. Sounds like most of the financing will come from the Hotel tax and Parking lot revenue. The $30 million out of the general fund is what it would have cost to knock the Dome down anyways. Put me in the group that is for this new plan.
Dude we live in Houston. Tomorrows high is forecast to be 89 degrees. An outdoor park wouldn't get used for 3/4ths of the year.
I can't wait to check out the finished product. Thank goodness we found some used for that beautiful piece of architecture.
They can't make it anything else because it was registered as a historical site. that means no changes that impact the structure or integrity from a historical perspective. raising the floor and adding an underground parking garage keeps the facade in tact thus satisfying the historical requirement. i guess it's better than nothing and at least the new floor space will mean the dome can be used again. i do hope they can restore the glass panels over home plate to allow a full circle of that sunglow. overall, i am curious what it will look like inside when they finished renovating it.
Just demo the damn thing. Tons of great memories of the Oilers, the Astros and the Rodeo (plus some great concerts like Metallica/GNR) but it's time has come and gone.
I would think in futures where there are nothing but domes, or a future without domes, you have a relic and historical artifact of curiosity that people can teleport to and will look at with keen interest. There's really no middle ground that would relegate it to uninteresting. But it's going to take time and patience, and might be another 200 years. So it has to be put in the hands of people who will resist the urge to destroy it. Houston doesn't seem desperate for land, so that shouldn't be an issue, it more about maintenance and can you find a way to pay for the upkeep without taking away from the artifact.
I am on board with this. At least FINALLY something is done. Like said above the $30 million from the general fund was going to be spent anyway. Might as well make some use of what is there already. Hey.. Its SOMETHING.
You apparently have never been to a park. Even in August, people go to the park. I think it would've been much cooler to blow it up, turn the land into more parking and a large park with plaques placed around the areas where things happened in the Dome.
They could have turned it into a great haunted house. It already has spider webs and probably many other scary things. Oh well.
So we're going to put parking underneath it? Who is going to park there, and why? Is there some kind of demand for extra parking at NRG Park that I don't know about? It sounds like this is the 'save the dome' folks trying to get their foot in the door or some kind of leverage in the situation. After this $100MM is spent, next we're going to hear, "well, we already spent $100MM in renovating the parking, we might as well spend the other $300MM to turn it into some kind of convention/concert space!" Count me out. Knock 'er down.
It is unsafe now. It will take millions to get it line with building codes. The taxpayers will never flip the bill. Are there any rich old billionaires willing to throw show bucks toward this grand old lady of H-Town?
