Basically, I grew up at the dome goin to Astros & Oilers games. I miss the place and just for old times sake would like to visit and look around. Does anyone know if there are tours offered? I did a quick search on the web but couldn't find much at all one way or the other.
Tell them you are an architect from Vandelay Enterprises and you have an idea that will not only renovate and reimagine the entire Astrodome complex, but make Houston the #1 world class city in America.
They'll probably just let you walk in and look around. Hell, there's probably still crap left in there from the Katrina evacuees, so they might even pay you a few bucks to clean it up...
Just look for the main service entrance. Look like you are supposed to be there and walk right in. I have to admit to strolling around the old Rocket's offices in the bowels of The Summit. I used to be in there delivering prescription medication for the team. The pharmacy my dad works at had the contract for providing the Rockets with mediciation. Do those guys ever use a lot of anti-inflamatory medication. I was also on The Summit elevator one time with Bob Allen. The guy is really short.
Call the Guest Relations Hotline (if they have one) and they should be able to help you. I know in Memphis, you are able to take group tours of FedExForum and they are handled by someone in Guest Relations at the building.
No, it was the World's Largest Indoor Carnival. I took some pictures just to have some from inside the Astrodome again. So weird to be inside the Dome now.
I did a search online and found a number - Astrodome Tours -- Call 713-799-9534. Don't know if it still works. Oh, and I HIGHLY recommend the Minute Maid tour. They have them all day every day. You can get tickets at Astros.com. The one I went on lasted over an hour and went from near the top of the building, through the suites and down onto the field into the dugouts and bullpens. It was awesome.
I just talked to a friend of mine that works at Reliant Park. Official tours are no longer available.
Jeff is right, the tour at MMP is great. I toured the facility when it was still named after a former gas company and it was great to walk out onto the playing field. Well just the foul territory. Uncle Drayton would have had you shot back then for stepping on the playing field because the grass didn't grow to well at first. It was a sunny day in November when I toured the park. I asked the tour guide when we were on the field if we could call up Bags, Big and some of the other guys to play a little scrimmage since the weather was so nice. He didn't like my question. He just frowned at me and said, "No".
Thanks for the replies ya'll. Would still love to get in there sometime and check it out again. I missed the carnival that was here recently.
I took a group of kids on a Dome tour when I worked at the Museum of Natural Science several years back when the 'Stros still played there (this was 2-3 years prior to the opening of Enron Field). That was the one and only stadium and/or arena tour I ever went on, and it was really cool. They would let us on the field, just not the infield. I got to haul ass from center-left and jump into and up off the wall as though I was stealing a homer. It was AWESOME. I was about 21 with a bunch of 10-12 year old kids who were all amazed that I could actually jump that high (in their minds, anyway). Our guide was really nice and informative. She said that there was a tradition, of sorts, where Dome employees would walk the catwalk to the top-center of the ceiling, where there was a hatch that lead onto the roof. They would then use a Sharpie to sign their names up there on the roof on the other side of that hatch. I begged....she said " no." All in all it was a great tour. Other than the roof and the infield, we couldn't go into the locker rooms, but everywhere else was fair game; suites, etc. She also said Bags and Bigg were two of the nicest people she had ever met. A truly great experience, overall.
I've seen it - The story I heard was Rodeo Employees, but there is a hatch that is covered in sharpie ink at the very top. I saw it when I did overhire work for ESPN. I had to install the camera that they used to use to get the overhead shot of the pitcher. Spooky up there, but really cool.
That's killer. I was trying to imagine what the Dome would look like from that vantage point, but I can't quite wrap my head around it.
If you look really close at Jeff's pic (which is really cool shot btw), you can see where there is a platform squared off. You can only stand in the center, everywhere else there is a metal mesh catwalk with about 3' clearance. Signatures are all over the beams up there too. When we went out there, we had to make sure our tools were tied off to our belt loops and we had nothing in our pockets, because if something fell it could have really hurt someone.
