Astrodome's new vision

New proposal to save the Astrodome calls for shops, restaurants, and more

The Houston Astrodome is both the city’s crown jewel and a rotting albatross depending on which direction you view it from. To address the ongoing problem of what to do with the facility, the Astrodome Conservancy has unveiled Vision: Astrodome, the latest bold plan to repurpose the dome by turning it into a small city-within-a-city with four inner buildings and walkable green spaces.

“Our 8th Wonder of the World is as Houston as it gets,” says Abbie J. Kamin, Houston City Councilmember from District C. “This historic protected landmark, filled with generations of memories and a legacy of iconic sports and music, is woven deeply into our hearts and our heritage. I am grateful that the Astrodome Conservancy has found a path forward to not only save the Dome but provide an economic asset Houstonians can enjoy year-round.”

Here's the vision. There will be a central event space on the dome floor. Four building will surround it, offering restaurants, retail shopping, and offices. The plan should result in 450,000 square feet of revenue generating space, all within the confines of the dome itself.

In addition, a connecting boulevard will move visitors throughout the area. This plan is based on New York City’s Highline, a raised walkway built on an old viaduct that opened in 2009 and has become a template for repurposed city architecture across the nation. Not only will the dome boulevard connect the various structures inside the dome, but also lead to the other buildings in NRG Park.

Built in 1965, the Astrodome is one of the most iconic sports stadiums still standing in the world. It was the first domed stadium, ushering in a new era of air-conditioned sports entertainment that earned it the nickname 8^th Wonder of the World. Muhammad Ali fought in the dome, it hosted Wrestlemania, the famous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match took place there, and it was of course the longtime home of the Houston Oilers, Houston Astros, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

When it closed in 2008 (and failed to meet fire code the next year), no one quite knew what to do with it. Ken Hoffman, writing in 2019, called it “puny and old, an embarrassing, dingy public eyesore” next to the shiny new NRG Stadium. In 2013, the city held a referendum on spending $217 million to renovate the dome, which failed and seemed to doom the dome to the wrecking ball.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett started a campaign to save the dome, leading to a long and protracted discussion on what was best for the city. On the one hand, the Astrodome is a fully paid-for asset of Harris County and an iconic landmark to boot. On the other hand, no one could agree on what to do or how to pay for it. The dome waited.

In 2016, the Astrodome Conservancy was formed as a private nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing the dome. To date, they have raised $3 million toward the project, which is still a drop in the bucket when it comes to remodeling the space. Two years later, Harris County Commissioners court approved $105 million to raise the floor and turn the dome back into an event space. Progress was again halted under Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who questioned whether renovating the dome was a wise use of the county’s money. The county currently spends $150,000 to $400,000 to maintain the empty dome.

So, what will Vision: Astrodome cost and where will the conservancy get it? The answer to the first question is currently: don’t know. The answer to the second question is: don’t know, but . . .

Vision Astrodome is meant to be a “conversation starter” between the major stakeholders in NRG Park according to official press documents. That likely means the conservancy is hoping to leverage economic interest and city pride to raise the money from the Houston Texans and the rodeo. Both have a contract with the county that gives them priority at NRG Park until 2032 and are unlikely to approve anything that threatens the parking situation in the complex.

The rest will likely come from Harris County itself, paid for through taxes and hotel fees. Houston refused to foot the bill in 2013, but nostalgia may have turned the hearts of the populace since then, especially if Houston can get a first-class facility out of the deal. Until then, the dome sits as it has for 15 years, watching the city pass it by.

Rendering courtesy of Gensler

A new plan for renovating the Astrodome has emerged.

ask the cm three

Introducing CultureMap Houston's new advice column for navigating life

Photo by A server at 1111

Eric Sandler, Emily Cotton, and Brianna McClane want to give you advice.

Introducing CultureMap Houston’s latest initiative in reader engagement and better living. “Ask the CM Three” is a new advice column from CultureMap city editor Eric Sandler (aka me), home and design contributor Emily Cotton, and jack-of-all-trades writer Brianna McClane.

The premise is simple. Over the last year or so, the three of us have become good friends. We like helping each other think through our problems and feel like readers might appreciate our perspective on how to confront the challenges of life in Houston.

Also, if we’re being honest, advice columns are incredibly fun to read. Being exposed to other people’s problems makes our own difficulties seem a little less onerous. It’s the same sort of schadenfreude that makes articles about restaurant closures so reliably popular.

Sure, readers could submit the obvious stuff (via this Google Form). Ask Sandler for a new restaurant for date night, Cotton for tips on scoping out estate sales, or McClane for how she’s balancing working from home with school being out for the summer. But we’re hoping to be challenged with questions where we disagree — what happens when Sandler’s Gen X indifference runs into McClane and Cotton’s Millennial enthusiasm?

To explain the idea in more detail, the three of us sat down for drinks at Bar Madonna. If the overall tone seems loose, well, we were into at least our second round of cocktails before we turned the recorder on.

Eric Sandler: This was your idea, Brianna — why do you want to start writing an advice column?

Brianna McClane: I've read Dear Abby since I was a child. Since then, I've devoured advice columns from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and plenty of others. My parents are pastors, so I grew up hearing everyone's problems and listening to the advice they gave. Looking back, I think that's one reason I love advice columns.

Even if the advice isn't for you, you can still learn something from it. And if you don't, you're at least getting to enjoy someone else's drama. One of my favorite parts is when advice columns get shared on social media. I'll always scroll through the comments to see what everyone else thinks.

Emily Cotton: I religiously read The Ethicist in The New York Times. It's written by an NYU philosophy professor, and I don't always agree with him, which is part of the fun.

Our parents used to have people over for poker night — or Rook, in my house. We'd be watching "TGIF" or the NBA Finals while our parents played cards with neighbors and coworkers, and we'd overhear who was feuding with whom or which neighbor had a new scandal.

I feel like this current younger generation didn’t get to live like that — they're more apt to be “blue-light-glasses voyeurs.” They're reading it on their phones, whether it's an advice column, Instagram, or Reddit. Maybe this bridges that generational gap. Older people lived it, younger people still want it.

BM: That's a good point. It seems to me that just a few years ago, people were much more likely to ask for opinions and advice on social media. Now it's easy to ask ChatGPT instead. But advice isn't always about finding an answer — sometimes it's about connecting with another person who's been through something similar.

EC: There’s a difference between exchanging knowledge and exchanging opinions. Let's be real specific here. I don't listen to just any knowledge anyone wants to share with me. I want it to be cited. I want it to be somewhat peer reviewed.

ES: I am with you on the New York Times columns, Emily. I'll read Ask a Manager, Work Friend, and Social Q’s pretty regularly.

Houston's a big, complicated city. If you read CultureMap, we'll tell you what's going on, but we don't offer a lot of opinions and we don't really rank things. People know us — or at least feel like they know us — from reading our work. I think there's some curiosity about what we think.

ES: All right, so what kind of questions are we looking for? Do we want relationships? Parenting?

EC: I would say all of the above. At the end of the day, this is about people reaching out to other people. Think of us as your unbiased friends who'll tell you what you need to hear.

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Got a relationship dilemma? Workplace conflict? Parenting question? Family drama? We want to hear it. Submit your questions anonymously through this Google Form, and Eric, Emily, and Brianna may answer them in an upcoming installment of Ask The CM Three.

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