Technically it would be the St.Louis Arena to the first. But to have atleast the astrodome preserved is good. Stadium preservation it can be done if put your mind to work. Not to mention volunteer work as well like cleaning and painting, electrical work etc.
As a Houstonian I strongly disagree that the Astrodome should be demolished. I think people in Houston are still shell-shocked with how quickly Astroworld was demolished and nothing was built in it's place to replace it. We would rather come up with a practical use for the dome vs seeing it go.
@Nic Lazzari The proposals have become more realistic and less outlandish as the years have gone by. One proposal of turning it in to a parking garage/ green space park was pretty interesting. The old Houston Summit/ Compaq Center is a good example of how the city was able to salvage an unused sports stadium and refurbish it. The Key Arena structure in Seattle is another good example. It's been gutted completely. I think the only thing preventing Houston from coming to a solution is political power. If a popular celebrity or former Athlete presents a proposal I think people would get on board.
@@jshooper7819 people keep wanting to compare it to arenas being repurposed but its not the same thing or comparison, arenas are much smaller in comparison and even repurposing those is not easy or cheap
I remember back in the 90s, parking at the Astrodome and then us kids running across the bridge to be the first in line at Astroworld. Amazing times. Also my dad used to take me to the dome every year the rodeo was in town. It's a shame we can't figure out what to do with it.
It is disappointing the treatment of the Astrodome, it could have been an awesome hotel, with ensuring full capacity during football season or during conventions (OTC) or shows (Rodeo) - on a related topic, thankfully the Romans had a different view 2000 years ago, otherwise we won’t have the Coliseum
I believe they should transform the inside of Astrodome so that it can hold an Olympic running track. Houston has always been known for its state-of-the-art stadiums for multiple different sports, so it makes me wonder why Houston doesn't have any good stadiums with a running track. I believe it is something that Houston needs, and it would give the Astrodome a new purpose that would set it apart from the other stadiums in the city.
@@jasonrandom372 i think it would be the dopest hotel. imagine a locker room suite. i mean they could so much with it. but personally i would prefer it be completely renovated. along with rfk. some of the places are amazing.
Then the Texans will refuse to play there and leave town, the Titans will move back and start calling themselves the Oilers again, and all will be right in the world.
I should be immensely sad if that dome is to be demolished after all. I have neither the power nor the creativity to keep it standing, but I do love that building very much!
If the teams wouldn't have wanted new stadiums that money could have been used to make the Astrodome like the Superdome and we'd still be able to go to it
@@forgottenplaces9780 like I said... You wouldn’t understand. Not to mention, we’re still paying on the damn thing lol, so yes, as a tax payer of the the city of Houston, I do not want to see it go.
The County did pass something to turn the area into a park, keeping the iconic roof but leaving the rest as open space. It would be used as an area for concerts and civic events. If this is the one he says a judge later blocked, I am disappointed. The Astrodome is a piece of history and should not be destroyed.
Why wasnt it used by the surrounding counties for high school sports? Football and baseball? Remodel and field turf. Easy up keep. Each school would take the money it would cost to run their own stadiums and use it as a renters fee. The stadium still gets used and a great piece of sports and entertainment history can be preserved.
The Astrodome is a piece of history, it can not be demolished, we don't want to be like all the people in the 50's and 60's demolishing works of art for Malls and Parking lots
The real reason that nothing is done with the Adtrodome is that area around it is crappy at best. No one is going to invest dollars to turn it into a hotel or anything else when the area around it is bad.
I believe our taxpayer dollars could be used better than to see a rat infested shell of a great stadium sit idle for years and no one makes a move to use it. It will cost either way but either repurpose it or tear it down.
Visited there as a kid when it was new. Very overwhelming for a 7 year old small town Kentucky boy. My dad said you could put everyone in our city in there and only be half full. If possible it would make a great public winter sports park. Ice skating rinks, hockey, sledding even skiing etc. Those kinds of places are very popular in hot southern cities because it’s a very different activity we rarely get to enjoy. We would drive over from Waco to see that.
Maybe they can consider the Aloha Stadium route.... they have a "Swap Meet and Marketplace" there three times a week (and graduation ceremonies for local high schools)... might work out if the dome is brought up to standards...
Idk im kinda skeptical of that bc thats something that could be done almost anywhere, you could have a market or a graduation on a high school field if u wanted and it wouldnt really be any different
The Houston Astros should move back into the Astrodome since it is more in line with their teams space age theme and has more seats than that ugly Minute Maid Park.
Houston needs to repurpose it into a state-of-the-art entertainment venue and/or convention center, PERIOD! Heard of how that city's famous amusement park Six Flags AstroWorld was demolished just over 15 years ago and that was considered a downright tragedy still fresh in locals' minds to this day. Should never be a question of money when it comes to breathing new life into historic landmarks like this one for example.
With many here. The cost to demo isn’t free and honestly how hard would it be to maintain its shell replace the glass with UV friendly but heat rejecting glass and have an air conditioned park for the 6-8 months a year. The stands could be kept in certain spots as an over look but this should work as an arboretum of sorts. At least for the costs they may pay anyway.
Amazing! Hard to believe it's been 25 years since the Oilers last played. And I went to Enron in 2000 on a cross country trip with my brother. To see that as a Red Sox fan was amazing. It was like a space ship in comparison to a dinghy. Goodness, time just flies...
Yankee Stadium was an open-air venue so, there were not many refurbishment options. However, the Astrodome has many options as an enclosed venue and, its structural engineering was double and triple reinforced because it was the first domed stadium. So, it would be very costly and time-consuming to demolish. Also, New York is a much older city with many iconic landmarks, but the Astrodome is the only such building for Houston. Unless you are a 4th generation Houstonian like myself, you probably don't understand the significance of the Dome to our modern emergence as a prominent city. That's why it is a state and landmark....to protect it from shallow pragmatists like yourself.
I realize it was a bad idea. It would've be the 3rd oldest park after Fenway and Wrigley. Also the original Penn Station was built on the site where Madison Square Garden is.
Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid, I’m still standing after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind I’m still standing (Yeah, yeah, yeah) I’m still standing (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Theres always rumors of the NHL coming to Houston so maybe do what they did in Seattle and save the roof and other structures and fit it for NHL and maybe a hotel in it. At this point demolition is not gonna happen. Save it while you can.
If the Texans ownership had an ounce of forward thinking in them, then this particular issue would be solved already. In the not so distant future, NRG Stadium will be old. So the NEW stadium for the Texans(even though I wish they get overthrown/bought out & be the Oilers again) would be in Pearland and build a new party complex in Pearland with a NEW PlayLand Park Amusement Park. Fix the Astrodome from public donations of $100 for ANYONE who wants to donate to it(I've got my $100) incentiivize with revenue for those fans who donated. Put the Roughnecks in NRG, and the NEW state of the art Astrodome will be a stadium, convention center, and the world's largest Ultra Mega Lounge every weekend!!! Who has that??? WE WOULD!!! Call it "Cadillac Astrodome". It should light up at night like the game SIMON at night with different colors around it. Bring some light in there up top and on the sides of it. Also, across the street, build a new commercial district of high rise office, residential, tech, and a new mega mall subterranean and above ground.Tear down the Arena over there and build underground parking to then meet 4 stories up top. Put a 2 story restaurant and stadium club above that parking garage. Fix the old walkway and widen it for walking, biking, and a people mover. You might be able to build a walking tunnel connecting both sides as well. Just think now. If 2.5M people in the metro area and/or WHEREVER in TX wanted to donate fundraiser style $100, that's $250M right there!!! Then get say $200 a week for the rest of their lives because this is a "special" project as an incentive, the ENTIRE AREA would be throwed AF💯 No forward thinking, no plans, no excitement of new plans, more excuses as usual.
Only negative minded people with no forward thinking and insight think that way. But that's ok though. When NRG becomes obsolete, we'll see where your favorite idiots who are in control of this mess attempt to put the new stadium so you can have 2 abandoned, empty stadiums with an open field of nothing, while Arlington made great use of their sports complex. Not to mention that if this were in Dubai, everything I said to be done, and then some would be done over there. Can't wait for those precious NRG decisions. Oh but wait, those idiots will want to build a new stadium across the street in that field, with NO NEW REVENUE MONEY POT, then end up leaving or tearing down NRG. Yeah. Another waist for an otherwise extremely useful and profitable area. They'll be 20 years behind everyone else in their thinking again just like that useless trash organization they are.
@@rodneywashington2017 how about making The Astrodome the new Houston Texans practice facility and HS football. Similar to what The Dallas Cowboys are doing in Frisco.
@@marka.graffakasnakebitenat3736 Not a bad Idea, but my thing is as far as the Texans goes, as well as the Rodeo, we've outgrown that area 15+ years ago. So to start fresh, the new stadium and entertainment complex should be in Pearland. Now to be similar to the Cowboys being in Arlington, their headquarters is in Frisco. So I suggest the Texans put their headquarters in Tomball with the practice facility. They also should move their training camp to Corpus Christi, and invest in that city and metro area as well with the fanbase. Basically everything I had mentioned for that area would be completely different from what it is without the Texans even there anymore.
It may eventually, there isnt a stadium that has been repurposed into anything but another stadium yet. If someone pays enough money for the land believe me the commission will waive their protections and let it be torn down for development
The stupidity of this narrator is astounding. He obviously is not from Texas. This is a historic landmark. This idiot would destroy all the historic landmarks around the world. There is a great structure there. I would say maybe an indoor/outdoor theme park. There are many things to do with a great structure like this. This is the greatest stadium ever built. No stadium has hosted as many different events in comfort.
The only idiocy is keeping a long defunct building standing for 20 years with no use nor plans to use it wasting millions of dollars to keep it standing for no reason other than aesthetics…
@@forgottenplaces9780 They must come up with a use for it. Not that hard. They could use it like they did, for many different functions or Indoor outdoor amusement park or hotel or event center, many opportunities. Demolition is out of the question. Demolish the great pyramids, the great wall of china, those rocks in a circle in Britain aren't doing much, right.
@@mickeydavis2250 they probably wont, its so obsolete and out of code now it would have to be totally gutted to even begin to have a chance at reuse. Really your going to compare a sports dome to the pyramids? Not even close to compare it, besides those things dont cost much to maintain and they actually bring in money to those areas, the dome doesn’t. They wont build an amusement park there i can tell u that bc there hasnt been a new amusement park in this country in 15 years and that was a failure. No one probably wants to be remembered as the politician that tore it down even thogh thats the only sensible thing to do at this point…
It's honestly stupid they stripped all the seats out, they should have left it original with the Astroturf ais drove turf also and they could have given tours tours of the stadium... Out of towners such as myself would have gladly taken the tour
I realize it is historic, especially to the locals but I hate indoor stadiums. It started a terrible trend in baseball and football with domes and astroturf.
I have lived in Houston since 1987. In all that time I have seen so many great structures demolished. The Astrodome remains today because the locals seem to have some sort of guilty complex about all the other great structures demolished. I agree that it served (past tense) its purpose well and it is time to move on.
Several corrections are needed. "One of the first domed stadiums". No, it was THE first domed stadium. Judge Hofheinz had nay-sayers telling him such a stadium couldn't be done. "Cookie-cutter". This is a term often used to denigrate stadiums of the 60s-80s for their circular design and moveable seating. For a domed stadium, there really was no choice but to do this. Many concepts in stadium seating, such as theatre chairs rather than wooden slats for seats were first instituted at the Astrodome. Artificial turf for a stadium was first installed at the Astrodome in 1966, necessitated by the grass dying once the roof was painted. The roof was painted because fielders couldn't follow fly balls during day games. I don't know who the hell's picture you have as "Bud Adams", but that's not Bud Adams. Bud was a fat man with a fat face. Adams demanded more seats in the 1980s or he'd move the Oilers to Jacksonville, which caused the giant scoreboard to be dismantled. After that, the Dome was really "just a stadium". The reason why it has never been torn down, as you have whined is long overdue, is because the A/C and water pipes are coated in asbestos, common for 1965 but later found to cause cancer when breathed. When Reliant Stadium was built, it was built too close to the Dome to tear down the conventional way with explosives. The cost for removing it piece-by-piece was prohibitive. So it has stood. I think it should be sold, so it is no longer county property, and let the new owners choose what to do with - apartments, office space, parking garage, sports museum, another Mattress Mac furniture store... the possibilities are many if the county commissioners would just decide to wash their hands of it and let the private sector repurpose it.
Stadiums with asbestos have been demolished plenty of times, i think the idea that reliant was too close is a myth as many stadiums even ones closer to the ones being demolished such as 3 rivers to heinz have beem imploded, third i dont think it will be repurposed into anything and will eventually be demolished its just too cost prohibitive...
It isn't so easy to just tear down an old stadium. It costs $$$ and in this case, taxpayer $$$. Not only that but no one wants to be the one that has his name on the "he tore down the Astrodome and cost the taxpayers millions" legacy. We loved watching baseball in the 'Dome - my wife especially loved the fact that all seats were padded and it was always 72 degrees inside.
@@shrimpflea doubt it because as someone like myself who lived in Texas all my life, anything with a Historic Landmark Plaque (Astrodome included) will stay standing no matter what, why, because it's typical Texas Historic Commission
