dome sweet dome
Houstonians rally around cherished Astrodome's future with new push for public feedback
A new initiative is soliciting feedback from locals to determine the fate of the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Future Dome, launched by the longtime advocacy group the Astrodome Conservancy, aims to garner public feedback as to the reuse and redevelopment of the beloved Dome.
“We want to know what is important to you, what would benefit you, and what you think the Dome should be in the future,” an announcement explains. “We are here to listen to you. The feedback collected during this campaign will be used to create an innovative, feasible, and community-backed approach to the reuse of the Dome.”
For now, the Astrodome sits barren, used only as storage for tenants and the county at NRG Park according to Beth Wiedower Jackson, the executive director for the Astrodome Conservancy. Harris County owns the historic landmark and pays around $400,000 a year for maintenance and insurance. That adds up to less than .10 percent of the county’s $5 billion budget.
In 2018, thanks to efforts by then Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the Harris County Commissioners court approved a $105 million project that would transform Houston’s beloved Astrodome into an event center. The project was met with praise by politicians, sports fans, and longtime locals.
Yet a year later, as CultureMap reported, that plan ended as Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo questioned if the $105 million plan, “is fiscally responsible, that it will actually, with the funds committed to it, that it will actually get us to a point where the Astrodome is self-sustaining.”
Ardent Astrodome supporters can log on to the Future Dome site information about upcoming virtual and in-person events, the constraints and opportunities around reusing the Astrodome in NRG Park, and more.
