SUPER BOWL FEVER SPEEDING UP ASTRODOME DECIDERS 
If it seems kinda arbitrary and sorta abrupt, that June 10 now-or-never deadline for Astrodome ideas that the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation set, it might be because another deadline is looming larger: February 2017, when Reliant Stadium will play host to the Super Bowl. Kiah Collier reports that once the Commissioners Court hears back from the various county agencies asked to study the $194 million plan to convert the Dome into a convention center, a public vote could happen as early as November. Still, that would give the county only 39 months before the big game to execute the conversion that’s estimated to take at least 30. Judge Ed Emmett tells Collier: “If we don’t have it this year [the New Dome Experience] won’t be ready in time for the Final Four and the Super Bowl and I hate to miss those opportunities.” [Houston Politics; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: HCSCC
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Pretty sure you can demolish the place in less than 30 months.
Unfortunately the opportunity to put the space shuttle in the Dome and make that area part of NASA was lost (amply parking; light rail service; not an hour away; etc.). could have been a real tourist area. Now I just want to see the Dome torn down.
I’m all for turning this albatross into a convention center AS LONG AS IT DOESN’T COST ME, an inner city taxpayer, A DIME. Let a private entity/enterprise payoff the debt on this dome, then pay to turn it into whatever they frickin want. Reliant Stadiums, Minute Maid Parks, Toyota Centers, should be league or owner financed structures. Props to the Houston Dynamo for doing it right.
Just do whatever you want, Emmett, you are obviously going to anyways.
They wont tear down the astrodome. It would cause alot of negative publicity throughout the US at this point.
Its more a matter of giving the Astrodome a function that is needed / useful / sustainable.
You won’t see the dome torn down–this is a done deal, they want this in time for the Super Bowl–I’m pleased with this plan, I’m proud of the commissioners for finding common ground and finding a solution short of ripping down an iconic building–it’s easy to say, tear it down, but it takes lucid forethought and a cranium to realize the loss to the city if this structure was razed for parking for the Texans.
And how exactly can you be Htown proud and be for tearing down the cities most famous building –the very definition of oxymoron –the stress being on the moron
I’m all for saving the darn thing, but do we need ANOTHER Convention Center? I thought the Brown was the be-all-end-all. Whats the prospect of even more conventions coming to town?
C L, thanks, I couldn’t have said it better, especially after the results of attempting to protest our tax valuation at HCAD.
shannon — can I not have pride in my city, yet at the same time want it to tear down an eye sore? Or is that I just can’t have an opinion that doesn’t agree with you? Another convention center is a bad idea — it will hurt the growth of the convention district downtown, which is just now finally taking off with the new hotels in the area.
Just a phone call to CCA would do the
trick. Corrections Corp. of America would
be an ideal tenant . . . the right wing
judges downtown could provide an endless
supply of dangerous citizens for the rest of
us to room and board in the only domed prison in the country.
I LOVE this idea. The GRB is fine for what it is: a giant empty shell that can be used for various functions. The Dome will be quite different. This looks like an excellent complement to the existing facilities at Reliant Park. $200 million is pocket change over the life of the building. There is huge benefit to leveraging all the other existing infrastructure (parking, rail, freeways, buildings) at Reliant Park. More is better IMO.
@Htownproud–no you cannot be Houston Proud and call the iconic Astrodome an eyesore–it’s importance to Houston in the last 40+ years is immeasurable and to advocate treating it like some burned out warehouse on the city docks to be ripped down without a care to its history is hardly Houston Proud–it’s shortsighted and lacking in abstract thought in relation to re-imagining a building well worth the effort to save–
I think it’s about time we come up with an acronym to describe the “As long as it doesn’t cost me” folks like C.L. The NIMBY and CAVE people of the 80s, 90s, and 00s are now being joined by the _____.
If you review the image already posted on Swamplot for the county’s dome redevelopment plan (http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/dome-plan.jpg) you will see that the dome is labeled “Fan Experience” which is clearly a direct reference to the NFL Fan Experience which is a big part of the Super Bowl activities (additionally, note the labels on the areas of Reliant Center). I would like to know if this was a part of the presentation used to win the next Houston Super Bowl. It would seem that the winning of the Super Bowl is going to be used to compel Harris County taxpayers to swallow the dome redevelopment. If true, this means the county has had an elaborate plan in motion for some time to redevelop the dome in a specific way, further discounting the solicitation of redevelopment proposals from the public.
I’m sure the county will say that they were simply preparing for the possibility of winning the right to host The SuperBowl–look, this is a done deal–you’re looking at the future of The Astrodome–I for one am pleased the county is finally moving forward on a plan that actually makes sense
Think of all the $$ they could get from sponsorships and advertisements for The Dome, especially during The Super Bowl.