Astrodome / Harris County Domed Stadium

[Blue387]

Another story on the current state of the Astrodome:
http://www.khou.com/video/featured-v...144994555.html

Reliant Park General Manager Mark Miller escorted us through what’s been called "the eighth wonder of the world."

"You still walk out here and it’s still impressive, the roof to the Dome, the feel of the Dome, it’s just an impressive structure," said Miller, as we walked out under the skylights. "They’ve been working on the turf."

The turf is just one of the issues Reliant is dealing with right now. A pipe burst on the eighth floor, drenching it. When we were there, crews were rolling it up, because it’s soaking wet.

The seats are caked in dust, and many of them are torn with the padding sticking out. "It needs a lot of repair, it needs a lot of work," said Miller.

[bhratbrat]

http://www.khou.com/home/The-dramati...145242055.html

This was an April Fools Joke by KHOU 11 NEWS in 1994 during the fits with the Oilers.

[Danielh41]

Here's a newspaper story, with a lot of photos, about the Astrodome posted last night: http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros...-then-and-now/

[stumpmerrill]

http://www.houstonpress.com/slidesho...me-36498114/#1

[Chevy114]

Do they still do the texas state championships there are did they finally upgrade?

[bhratbrat]

All football state championships for the next few years have moved to Arlington. They stopped hosting games at the same time that Katrina and Rita was there in 2006.

[Chevy114]

All football state championships for the next few years have moved to Arlington. They stopped hosting games at the same time that Katrina and Rita was there in 2006.

I don't blame them. Florida had to move games to the Citrus Bowl (a neutral but outdated site) because people were claiming it was a recruiting violation to allow players to see one stadium without it being a trip. At least Texas gets to use a good stadium.

[Chevy114]

http://www.houstonpress.com/slidesho...me-36498114/#1

Wow just looked at all these picutres. So many great angles of things I have never seen like the concourses and I didn't realize you could see through the slits on the side of the dome. So cool to finally see!

[Matt The Hammer]

I wouldn't call the dome "rotting". The fact that it's indoor will keep most of the things inside from rotting. Obviously the rolled up turf got wet. Other than that, the place looks great. Out dated? Yeah, it's been closed for a decade. But far from "rotting".

[Chevy114]

No matter what you call it there are a lot of seats from those pictures that are coming apart and need to be put back together. The structure seems sound though and it seems to still have enough thinks that look like they work that they could put a game in there for old times sake.

[04golf]

Houston should have renovated the astrodome for the Texans rather than building an expensive stadium right next to it. what a waste. The texans new stadium prob is only used 2wks worth of time out of a year

[Matt The Hammer]

What is that green and white wall at the end of the endzone? Is it the outfield fence?

[J.R.]

That's the lid that covered the turf pit. It stored the baseball and football turfs when not in use.

[Matt The Hammer]

Same view. You can see the green covers over the sliding pits around the cots.

love1-12.jpg

[Matt The Hammer]

That's the lid that covered the turf pit. It stored the baseball and football turfs when not in use.

That explains the stains going sideline to sideline. You'd assume that the sections of turf would be rolled from side to side. The stains show it was rolled the long way. The storage area is the same width.

Thanks.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Do they still do the texas state championships there are did they finally upgrade?

They can't do anything at all in the Dome now. Too many building code violations.

[HollandsComet]

Houston should have renovated the astrodome for the Texans rather than building an expensive stadium right next to it. what a waste. The texans new stadium prob is only used 2wks worth of time out of a year

I disagree. The Astrodome was outdated and inadequate even when the Texans joined the NFL, let alone in today's sports world. Reliant Stadium is used WAY more than two weeks out of the years, too. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo alone eats up almost a month of dates at the stadium, plus RS hosts lots of concerts, Wrestlemania, Disney on Ice, tractor pulls, etc., as well as college football games in addition to the ten Texans home dates every year. Gussying (sp?) up the Astrodome for the Texans just wouldn't have made any sense--they would've needed a new stadium eventually anyhow...

[jrewing]

They ruined the Astrodome when they did the major renovation in 1989. Before that, it was a great place for baseball.
I don't envy the taxpayers there. It's a tough decision to make as to the future of the place. I'm 50-50.

[Chevy114]

Relient was the clear choice imo, the astrodome set up was about as good as any of the real cookie cutter stadiums for football. Houston is the 4th largest city in America they deserved to have a new stadium with all the bells and whistles and who knows if the NFL would have given houston a team with that set up.

As for the future, I'm all about keeping around history's treasures, but since it can't be used for its original purpose and make money it's not worth keeping up. They only thing I think they could maybe do is like wha they do with the Great West Forum and keep it around for concerts and random events.

[bhratbrat]

Reliant gets used at minimum two months out of the year.

Everyone in Houston and Harris County have been scratching there heads more so since 2006. I still think the county is paying for the renovation work in 1989 so as of now it makes it a bad situation to either tear down or renovate it again. I watched a recent KHOU report saying that the study is nearing completion and once they have that, they will make there decision.

[Chevy114]

Reliant gets used at minimum two months out of the year.

Everyone in Houston and Harris County have been scratching there heads more so since 2006. I still think the county is paying for the renovation work in 1989 so as of now it makes it a bad situation to either tear down or renovate it again. I watched a recent KHOU report saying that the study is nearing completion and once they have that, they will make there decision.

Thats the problem with NFL stadiums we have the problem with the Ray Jay it has college football on saturday and pro on sundays but very few concerts because of bad sightlines.

[J.R.]

The stadium authority owes over $30 million on the work done for the Oilers.

Reliant gets used at minimum two months out of the year.

Everyone in Houston and Harris County have been scratching there heads more so since 2006. I still think the county is paying for the renovation work in 1989 so as of now it makes it a bad situation to either tear down or renovate it again. I watched a recent KHOU report saying that the study is nearing completion and once they have that, they will make there decision.

[Paul W]

report on why the dome is a gonner, too expensive to rework or tear down...

http://www.khou.com/home/KHOU-11-New...144994555.html

[The Old Ballpark]

Hopefully. Astros will pop in and clarify this, but IIRC after Drayton McLane bought the Astros, his goal was to remove the added football seating, enlarge the concourses and remodel the Astrodome, rather than get a new ballpark. but city and/or county officials wanted to spur downtown development with the Astros there. So McLane went that route

[hsnterprize]

This was a shot inside the Astrodome for the World Wrestling Federation (Entertainment) event "WrestleMania X7". It was WrestleMania 17 back in 2001, and over 67,000 filled this place to see Texas-born "Stone Cold" Steve Austin take on Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in an intense main event. The crowd in that place was completely behind Austin, and he rewarded that support by "turning heel", or becoming a "bad guy" while winning the WWF Championship.

Astrodome.jpg