Pave over the infield, and put in a parking lot Heralded as the ?8th Wonder of the World? when the engineering marvel opened its doors in 1965, the Houston Astrodome has received a slight demotion, thanks to a new preservation plan. The world?s first domed stadium is now just a parking lot.
But calling the plan by the Harris County Commissioners, the government agency in charge of the stadium, simple misses the genius of a solution that preserves an architectural marvel when the public seems unwilling to foot the bill.
?This is a building like any other building the county owns,? says Judge Ed Emmett, one of the Harris County Commissioners . ?We refurbish county courthouses all the time. We just decided to treat the Astrodome the same way.?
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After the dome was declared non-compliant with the fire code in 2008, numerous schemes to either redesign and refurbish the dome or demolish it (at an estimated cost of $30 million) have been floated, including a $271 million bond measure for a large-scale renovation that was rejected by voters in 2013.
The new plan dispenses with grand visions and simply accomplishes what?s important: keeping the stadium functional, while funding proper maintenance until a new owner comes along. The plan, which should take roughly a year to finish, will raise the field, which was sunk 30 feet below the surface, to ground level. Two levels of underground parking will be built below ground, turning the emp...