Halloween, 2013: Even here, one can see Reliant Stadium crowding the Astrodome partially out of sight. Any new design for a re-purposed Dome leaves Reliant out of the picture, of course, but it never will be out of any new reality because it was almost built on top of the Dome.
Houston Astros icon Larry Dierker made a point in his Chronicle column last weekend about the dubious future of the Astrodome that really rang home with me. Dierker called attention to the fact that building Reliant Stadium so close to the Astrodome structure may be the leading point that both blocks new vision for the elder landmark, the proud dome that once sat alone in grandeur on the concrete prairie, while also helping to maintain resistance from the Texans and Rodeo people from even wanting new life for a past that sits right in their own front or back yards, depending on one’s point of view.
Dierker flatly asked: “Why did they have to build Reliant Stadium so physically close to the Astrodome in the first place?”
Why, indeed? If there was even a basic plan in place back then to preserve and re-purpose the Dome, there was plenty of room on that acreage to do a physical separation of the two buildings that would have left both Reliant and the Dome unspoiled by territorial competition with each other today.
My guess is that the builders fully expected the Astrodome structure to be gone by now. So, where they located Reliant Stadium relative to an implicitly abandoned and condemned building was never even an after-thought. It was never a thought at all – and I mean right up to the last Super Bowl site campaign when some of the same people from the Reliant tenants group suggested again that this would be a good time to raze the Astrodome and create a few more parking spaces for Super Bowl guests.
Unfortunately, the visionary preservationists resistance to the destruction of the Astrodome only arose after the ravages of time have weakened the case for saving our world-treasured example of original architectural design – and the fight has come about so far beyond the time that the original construction of Reliant Stadium so close to it made the battle today one that travels up a much steeper hill to any chance of winning.
Thank you, Mr. Dierker, for bringing up the location problem in the preservation battle. One of the Astrodome’s previous strengths was its lone presence grandeur on the plains of Southeast Texas. That illusion can never be recaptured today without Photoshop.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
February 9, 2014 at 4:27 pm |
Growing up in Pearland, the only time we went to that part of Houston was to go to Playland Park. Then, when the location of Colt Stadium and the future Astrodome was announced, my dad took me to the area and while wandering around we found some old square nails. I went games at Colt Stadium and watched the Astrodome take shape. Then after the Astrodome opened, I watched Colt Stadium fall into disrepair and be dismantled, with only a small plaque to mark its location–which later disappeared. Now with Reliant Stadium built, it’s sad to think that the same fate awaits the Dome as befell Colt Stadium before it.
February 9, 2014 at 7:06 pm |
Actually, the location so close to the other features of Reliant Park is precisely what makes the Astrodome a viable compliment to creating a convention and meeting destination. The County did a study several years ago that suggested replacing the old Astro Arena with a new structure to provide more meeting and event space. And the price tag was higher than that put before voters last fall, a price tag that absolutely did not need to be as high as it was, btw. At any price, the Astrodome makes infinitely more sense as that needed space than tearing down a landmark and building something new.
People coming for a large convention certainly do not wish to hike a half mile between buildings. Those who put together the county plan understood this. They just didn’t spend a dime to educate the voting public about it.
Also, the Houston preservation community and others have been pushing for a reuse of the Astrodome for many, many years, It is flatly incorrect to suggest that they came late to the party. The difference is that the county saw no urgency to put it before the public as long as they felt some filthy rich knight would ride up with a fully funded redevelopment plan. So the Dome sat idle.
Some in the county government, Emmett and Lee, at least see the Astrodome as an asset with value. Others wouldn’t know an asset if it bit them on the …asset.
February 9, 2014 at 10:40 pm |
As one who strongly supports the preservation and commercial re-purposing of the Astrodome, forgive me if I mistook the absence of publicity with the absence of early effort. More could have been done on the day the Astros moved out in 1999 to inform the public of the preservation plan for the Astrodome. As far as I’m concerned, any effort that came into play only after the Astros move downtown was the same as being late for the party, and, even then, whatever finally came about was not publicized broadly enough to do much much good in 2013. There’s only so much that people riding around town on a bus with noble intentions can do without the big cash it takes to get the word out heavily over the electronic media in clear, easy to grasp terms.
Things now are what they are. Try harder. Try smarter. Recruit some more people with big money to the fight.
February 10, 2014 at 4:05 am |
The irony is that the proximity to Reliant Stadium is probably why the Astrodome hasn’t yet been torn down. Back in the 1960s, nobody knew the harm exposure to asbestos could be so the dome’s pipes were lined in asbestos as is the insulation. They can’t just implode the Dome as many other stadiums have been because the debris would coat Reliant Stadium with a layer of asbestos fibers. Many many asbestos lawsuits would follow.
Physically dismantling the Dome without implosion will cost far more to do, close to what it would cost to just renovate it and let it live on. So the construction of Reliant Stadium has actually saved the Dome unwittingly.
Had they built the new stadium north of the Dome parallel to Old Spanish Trail, I think imploding the Dome could have been done while being safely out of range of the fallout.