Astrodome joins Alamo as historical state landmark

[TexasTowelie]

After tabling the matter for three years, the Texas Historical Commission in Austin voted Friday morning to designate the Astrodome a State Antiquities Landmark, joining the ranks of the Alamo, the State Capitol, the Cotton Bowl and other notable sites.

The unanimous vote happened less than two weeks before crowds descend on the state's largest city for the Super Bowl, which will be hosted at NRG Stadium, next door to the first fully enclosed, domed sports stadium in the U.S.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who has long championed the venue, said the heightened status will not hamper plans to raise the floor to ground level and add two floors of parking underneath.

He said the timing of the vote was coincidental--it had been slotted for a vote for months.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Astrodome-dubbed-a-statewide-landmark-on-par-with-10889221.php

[braddy]

1. It was sure impressive in 1965, that was when we first the guy flying inside the dome with his jet

pack, and air conditioned sports in Houston was extremely futuristic.

[S_B_Jackson]

2. The Astrodome in it's current state is so very sad and dilapidated...

and something needs to be done. Either refurbish/repurpose it as a building, completely reimagine and repurpose it, or raze it completely.

The first option is, I believe, far too expensive and impractical - and the business uses for which it has been proposed are not, IMO, economically viable in the long run.

The last option to raze it completely, would strike at Houston's heart as a community - one in which our own history would be destroyed.

The second option is the one I prefer - and the most viable option in the immediate future and for the long term would be something along the lines of this:

www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/a-dome-park_o

It would fit well with so much of what takes place there already...with the Rodeo, Grand Prix of Houston, and the next couple of weeks with the Superbowl and related-activities.

It could also be a tourism draw in it's own right - - - and worthy of the forward-thinking vision of Judge Roy Hofheinz and designer, Buckminster Fuller, when the Dome was first conceived and constructed.

[TexasTowelie]

3. That's an interesting plan and I think it could become somewhat a tourist destination.

I don't know how financially feasible it is, but I would expect that it would cost less than a complete refurbishment.

[S_B_Jackson]

4. Unfortunately - and this is why it's been completely derelict since 2008

is that all of the plans for complete refurbishment, demolition, and "A Park Dome" will run over $50 million.

The plan that I linked to is a bit unrealistic for their expectation of the green space extense to the southeast of the Dome. It will remain as parking for NRG Stadium as well as for the adjacent NRG Arena and Exhibit Halls.

I agree that the park concept could be a tourist draw and, as I noted, it would maintain a connection to the city's past - something that Houston's not always good at doing.