If Astrodome was on the ballot to be demolished... (Mart: hotel, house)

[3shipguy]

If the Astrodome was placed on the ballot for demolition instead of for approval to spend hundreds of millions to renovate, do you think it will stil be standing today? Remember, this was before it was designated as a historical building.

[hbcu]

no more political language - everyday language.

Do you want the Dome to remain intact as it is or DEMOLISHED, CRUSHED, TORN DOWN ASAP.

[Texyn]

Sadly, no. The demolition seekers are just too vocal. Combine that with the prevailing notion of this city "preferring to tear down its history," and you'll have yourself a pile of rubble.

[jfre81]

It's like this. Imagine you have a nice house with a driveway. You park your Prius in one space in the driveway and you take it to work everyday.

Next to that Prius is your dad's old, rusted-out 1968 Mustang. He drove it to high school. It's the first car you remember riding in. Hell, you were probably conceived in it! Anyway, the fond memories you have are limitless. You can't put a value on it. But somewhere in your love for the thing, keeping it up fell to the wayside because it wasn't used anymore. The paint's peeled off and the rust spots have grown. But you don't really have the resources or the need to restore it, because you're now making payments on a Prius. You just want to keep it for the sake of posterity. You're really proud to have it in your driveway. It was your old man's ride, for crying out loud! But to everyone else on the street, it's just an eyesore.

Now imagine if that car took up nine acres of valuable space that could be put to far better use. And that the neighbors on the street had to pay for keeping it.

That's the Astrodome.

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by Texyn

Sadly, no. The demolition seekers are just too vocal. Combine that with the prevailing notion of this city "preferring to tear down its history," and you'll have yourself a pile of rubble.

It should be a pile of rubble. It serves ZERO purpose as a relic of days gone by. Its literally a gigantic decaying waste of money. It was cool in its day, its day is over.

If there was any chance that it could be made into a tourist destination, some private group would have stepped forward and bought it. But lets be real here - its huge, its decaying, its in a relatively crappy part of town - its not serving a purpose any more, and nobody is willing to pay to keep it with their own money.

It should be gone. Yesterday. History is for books.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Texyn

Sadly, no. The demolition seekers are just too vocal. Combine that with the prevailing notion of this city "preferring to tear down its history," and you'll have yourself a pile of rubble.

I'm all for preserving history.
The Astrodome is way too big to be preserved
It is a cash-cow for professional sport teams to the point that after 50 years, there's still a $30 million debt.

Tear it down
preserve something important, not a dumb stadium.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I'm all for preserving history.
The Astrodome is way too big to be preserved
It is a cash-cow for professional sport teams to the point that after 50 years, there's still a $30 million debt.

Tear it down
preserve something important, not a dumb stadium.

There is no debt remaining on the Dome it is completely paid for, quit spreading this misconception. It is structurally sound and ready for improvements that will begin later this year.

[cs45]

Sounds like what the Pontiac Silverdome went through after it became vacant in 2002. They finally decided to imploded it (twice) a couple of months ago.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBKa6G-pe-8

[jfre81]

Generally speaking, the larger an interior space is, the more difficult it is to repurpose it from its original function to another without it being economically infeasible. Closed Wal-Marts tend to stay boarded up for years for a reason.

This is not to be confused with highrises in business districts, like how after decades of disuse the old Savoy hotel and Central Square have finally been refurbished. They are being used for their original intended purposes, basically. The Astrodome is finished as a major league sports venue. Nobody in 2018 wants to pay 2018 NFL football ticket prices to watch a football game from seats that face the corner of the end zone instead of the center of the field, any more than the players on the field want to fall down on fuzzy plastic over concrete.

Originally Posted by marksmu

If there was any chance that it could be made into a tourist destination

First you would have to have tourists to come there for anything besides a one-off event like the Super Bowl.

Really though, it's not about hating the Astrodome. I've been places in that building most have not. There are two seats from the upper deck in the room I sit in right now, from one of the navy blue strips of the "rainbow." For all I know they could be the seats I sat in for the final Astros playoff game in the Dome in 1999. I have some great memories from in there as anyone.

Others, like getting sent to a mostly empty shell for high school football games in the years after the pros left it behind, with no food in the press box, and acquiring food meant taking an elevator (that could very well quit working at any time) to the mezzanine concourse and paying concession prices that hadn't changed since the pros left, and dealing with high-minded stadium staff who still thought they were major league - I'd sooner forget.

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

There is no debt remaining on the Dome

Well, now there will be because it's not private money paying for this "restoration" for the sake of a four-day annual trade show and the rodeo which has been the driving force in preventing anything constructive to come out of the Dome for the last 20 years.

Originally Posted by cs45

Sounds like what the Pontiac Silverdome went through after it became vacant in 2002.

If the Astrodome had been in any other city (and considering that domed stadium concepts were made before the Astrodome's construction everywhere from Seattle to Brooklyn, it could have been), it would be demolished - unless it was in/around Detroit.

I lived just outside Detroit for about a year ending this past October. They have a very "Astrodome-y" approach to historic preservation up there.

Oh, but one day they will turn the Packard plant into something after it stands in as a prop for every meme concerning urban decline in America. They even had an "announcement" a few months before I left. It must be a done deal! I even think some bureaucrats had a vote!

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by jfre81

It's like this. Imagine you have a nice house with a driveway. You park your Prius in one space in the driveway and you take it to work everyday.

Next to that Prius is your dad's old, rusted-out 1968 Mustang.....

That's the Astrodome.

Originally Posted by marksmu

It should be a pile of rubble. It serves ZERO purpose as a relic of days gone by. Its literally a gigantic decaying waste of money. It was cool in its day, its day is over.

Originally Posted by Dopo

I'm all for preserving history.
The Astrodome is way too big to be preserved
It is a cash-cow for professional sport teams to the point that after 50 years, there's still a $30 million debt.

Tear it down
preserve something important, not a dumb stadium.

Eh, speak for yourselves.