The Soul of Houston Lies Under This Roof

HOUSTON – (Commentary by Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report) – The Astrodome – an accomplishment in engineering and human willpower that symbolizes Houston’s can-do spirit – will never die.

Astrodome creator Roy Hofheinz’s vision for a roofed, air-conditioned stadium, was powerful. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Astrodome was perfectly in tune with the Houston vibe of the 1960s.

The Dome can be great again. All it needs is visionary leadership that can articulate a bold Astrodome concept for the future that matches or surpasses Hofheinz’s plan.

As the Astrodome remains vacant and the years roll by, it’s obvious too many of the recent redevelopment schemes have been weird, boring or unimaginative.

Thank God, the Dome was designated as a “State Antiquities Landmark” by the Texas Historical Commission. That means stadium cannot be demolished or altered without the approval of the state commission.

The historic designation thwarts the desires voiced by a few citizens to demolish the Dome and pave over its footprint with even more surface parking. By the way, the Dome is in sound condition and the cost of demolishing it is estimated at more than $100 million.

The world’s original air-conditioned domed stadium, the Astrodome was baptized in its first game by Mickey Mantle who hit the Dome’s first home run on April 9, 1965 with President Lyndon Baines Johnson in attendance. It’s historic.

A few years ago, former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett led an effort to redevelop the Dome, which sits next to NRG Stadium, a METRO rail-connected site about a mile south of the Texas Medical Center. The 350-acre county-owned NRG complex, located near Loop 610 at Kirby Drive, is dominated by a flat, ugly parking lot with 26,000 parking spaces that sit mostly vacant on most days.

$105 Million Shelved

A $105 million Dome redevelopment plan was approved by the county while Emmett was in office. The Emmett-era plan called for transforming the underground levels of the Astrodome into two levels of 1,400 below-grade parking spaces. The 500,000-square-foot ground-level floor of the Dome was proposed as a site for exhibits or entertainment.

The Dome has been sitting vacant since Astros and the Oilers decided the historic stadium didn’t suit their needs anymore.

Even though the Astrodome is the most famous building in Houston, the historic stadium was forgotten by some city leaders.

Many had forgotten that the Astrodome was the sports playground of Space City while Astronauts trained a few miles away at the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration facility in southeast Houston. President John F. Kennedy, at a speech delivered at Rice University in 1962, challenged America to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Houston was the headquarters venue for that lunar endeavor and historic activity was humming at NASA’s Mission Control in southeast Harris County.

Astronauts were national heroes in the 1960s. Space City’s new Major League Baseball team was named after them and the ushers and groundskeepers were dressed in space-themed costumes.

The Dome mastermind Judge Hofheinz was a marketing genius. Hofheinz, a former Houston mayor and county judge had been the campaign manager for Lyndon Johnson’s congressional and senate campaigns. In the 1960s, people were amazed at the new stadium featured newfangled corporate entertainment suites, called Skyboxes, which became en vogue money-makers at the Dome, even though the view of game was dim from that altitude.

Hofheinz faced another challenge came after the stadium was completed. It became apparent that the Dome’s roof prevented grass from growing on the stadium’s floor. And grass – to put it mildly – is a necessary component for baseball games. After some study and panic, Hofheinz hooked up with Monsanto Corp. and plastic “grass” was soon born – a major innovation. It was called “Astroturf.”

Innovation, entrepreneurship and unlimited opportunity – that’s what Space City is about. Houston is the city with no zoning and no limits. The city where success is about your ability, hard work and guts – not about your social pedigree or Ivy League diploma.

The Astrodome is the spiritual embodiment of this untamed incubator of achievement called Houston. May the Dome stand forever.

What about the owners? Yes, You.

The Harris County Commissioners Court and the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp. are working on a plan to re-energize the 350-acre NRG Park, which includes the Astrodome, NRG Stadium and the NRG convention halls.

County officials are working with the NRG’s two major tenants: the Houston Texans NFL football team and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The new plan will be assisted by a number of firms that will be engaged by the county’s Sports & Convention agency including, the (1) Convention Sports and Leisure consulting firm; (2) HKS; (3) Manica Architecture; (4) Populous; (5) OSports; (6) Manica Architecture; and (7) Thomas, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates, according to a recent report by Chandler France in the Houston Business Journal.

The Elephant Not in the Room

As the process moves ahead, the desires of the Rodeo and the Texans NFL team will be considered without a doubt. And the passel of consultants will bring their concepts to the table.

But what about the owners of the 350 NRG acres and the Dome? You know, the people of Harris County – the folks paying taxes. After everything is decided, maybe Harris County residents will be allowed to chirp a little bit.

It appears that the non-profit Astrodome Conservancy will have a meaningful seat at the redevelopment planning table – a good move.

It’s time to get serious with the Astrodome redevelopment efforts. One of the first things I want to see is the removal of most of the fencing around the 350 acres. It’s the people’s land and they should have access to it. It’s called “NRG Park” and there should be trees and grass in this park and children should be welcomed to run and play 365 days a year.

The fans of the wrecking ball will never win. Green space will overcome the proponents of pavement and parking.

San Antonio will never tear down its Alamo. New Orleans will never demolish its French Quarter. And Houston will retain an cherish its historic Astrodome.

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