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    Houston's own Statue of Liberty

    Houston's own Statue of Liberty? Giant Astronaut to tower taller than Sam Houston — and include an elevator

    Tyler Rudick
    Feb 8, 2014 | 1:03 pm

    Never one to pass up a chance to build a towering statue along the highway, legendary Houston artist David Adickes has signed on to design the largest project of his career — an 80-foot concrete astronaut at I-45 and NASA Parkway that would tower over the famous Sam Houston statue in size.

    The impressive statue will stand above a newly-proposed education center dedicated to the Apollo space program and its historic moon landings. The City of Webster, which owns the land for the project, will partner with the Apollo and Beyond nonprofit to raise funds for this new space center.

    The statue and Apollo center, neither of which have any direct affiliation with NASA, are expected to lure as many as 800,000 visitors a year to a community still hurting from the federal agency's cancellation of the space shuttle program in 2011.

    "This would be an icon, for not only Webster but NASA and this whole south part of Texas."

    "This would be an icon, for not only Webster but NASA and this whole south part of Texas," Adickes tells KTRK Channel 13 about his monumental art project. "The excitement comes when I actually start trying to figure out how to do it and where it's going to be done. All the details, that's the fun part."

    The artist envisions a 1960s-era astronaut triumphantly planting an American flag onto a 50-foot pedestal that will feature a small museum.

    Like the Statue of Liberty or the San Jacinto monument — and unlike Adickes' 67-foot Sam Houston statue in Huntsville — the astronaut would include an elevator to lift visitors atop its massive helmet for sweeping views of Houston and Galveston. The towering Apollo homage has an anticipated cost of $5 million, with an additional $25 million required for the education center.

    Organizers say the 20,000-square-foot complex, currently dubbed the Apollo and Beyond Center, also will serve as a sort of business and technology incubator for a region with deep ties to the aerospace industry. Multi-purpose meeting areas will host conferences and talks aimed at bringing together area tech talent with international firms.

    Adickes at his Huntsville museum in 2012

    David Adickes Museum, Huntsville, August 2012
      
    Photo by Joel Luks
    Adickes at his Huntsville museum in 2012
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    news/innovation

    a metro of entrepreneurs

    Houston isn't as business-friendly as other Texas cities, study finds

    Amber Heckler
    Apr 23, 2025 | 9:30 am
    Downtown Houston
    Photo by Damaris Martin on Unsplash
    WalletHub says Houston's business climate has barely improved in the last year.

    Houston's reputation for being an entrepreneurial and business powerhouse was just snubbed in WalletHub's new list of the "Best Large Cities to Start a Business" in 2025. The Energy Capital of the World only moved up four spots and ranked No. 34 nationwide.

    The annual report ranked 100 U.S. cities based on 19 metrics across three main categories: business environment, access to resources, and costs. Factors considered in the report include five-year business survival rates, job growth comparisons from 2019 and 2023, office space affordability, and more.

    The sunny Florida city of Orlando (No. 1) topped the list as the best large city for starting a business this year.

    Houston's business climate has improved slightly since 2024 when the city previously ranked No. 38.

    Houston performed the best in the national business environment category, ranking No. 33 out of all 100 cities in the report. It fell behind in the categories for "business costs" and "access to resources" and only mustered up into No. 50 and No. 65, respectively.

    "Starting a business can be very scary, considering one in every five startups doesn’t make it past the first year," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "That’s why it’s especially important to live in a city that provides an environment where new businesses can thrive, with enough capital, workers and customers to keep it going long-term."

    Despite this study's less-than-stellar review of the city's entrepreneurial spirit, there are many Houston-based businesses that reigned superior on Fortune’s 2025 list of "America’s Most Innovative Companies."

    Local space tech startups are also pioneering new low orbit projects and lunar missions, so the city clearly has an appreciation for innovation.

    Elsewhere in Texas
    Austin was the only Texas city to rank among the top 10 best big cities to start a business in 2025, climbing up into the No. 3 spot.

    "Businesses that are currently in Austin are thriving, as the city has a very high growth rate in the number of small businesses," the report said. "It also has the best employment growth in the country, which makes it more likely that new businesses will be able to find employees."

    Dallas-Fort Worth had the greatest concentration of cities on the list, contributing six out of 13 total Texas cities, and all of them among the top 50: Fort Worth (No. 11), Arlington (No. 15), Dallas (No. 16), Irving (No. 22), Garland (No. 29), and Plano (No. 43).

    Other large Texas cities that were named among the best places to start a business in 2025 include Lubbock (No. 33), Laredo (No. 44), San Antonio (No. 64), El Paso (No. 67), and Corpus Christi (No. 70).

    The top 10 best large cities to start a business in 2025 are:

    • No. 1 – Orlando, Florida
    • No. 2 – Tampa, Florida
    • No. 3 – Austin, Texas
    • No. 4 – Jacksonville, Florida
    • No. 5 – Miami, Florida
    • No. 6 – St. Petersburg, Florida
    • No. 7 – Boise, Idaho
    • No. 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
    • No. 9 – Raleigh, North Carolina
    • No. 10 – Hialeah, Florida
    innovationwallethubrankingsbusinessentrepreneurshiphouston
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