Nobody really wants to tear the Astrodome down. That in a nutshell is why the process to determine what to do with it has taken so long even though there aren’t any viable alternatives to demolition at this time. A failure to come up with a feasible plan with the financing to make it happen [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Harris County Sports & Convention Corp’
Adios, Aeros
It was nice knowing you. After 19 years, the Houston Aeros will be no more after this season. The Minnesota Wild, who own the majority of the Aeros AHL franchise, were unable to reach a new lease agreement with the Toyota Center. According to person familiar with the situation, the team [sought approval] Thursday from [...]
Astrodome anti-climax
That’s it?!?!?!? The Harris County Sports & Convention Corp. board of directors approved a resolution Wednesday calling for staff to collect ideas for what to do with the vacant Reliant Astrodome between now and June 10. The Sports Corp., the agency that manages Reliant Park, would analyze any proposals its receives before bringing them to [...]
A STEM vision for the Astrodome
Tory Gattis has an idea for what to do with the Astrodome. Where can America’s kids go to be inspired toward careers in our country’s most crucial need: science, technology, engineering and math (aka STEM)? Something far beyond their little local science or children’s museum? Houston could be that city, building not only on our [...]
Someone will do something sort of soon about the Dome
I can’t be more specific than that. While Houston’s Super Bowl Host Committee continues its bid to win the vote for Super Bowl LI, the next step in the possible demolition of the Astrodome could be taken next week by the board of directors of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation. The HCSCC presides [...]
Are we getting close to a Dome decision?
Maybe by the end of the year. But don’t rush County Judge Ed Emmett, who has a few things to say about that study that claimed it would be cheaper than originally reported to demolish the Astrodome. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett put that study with all the ones that have been done over the [...]
County disputes cheaper Dome demolition price tag
It’s on. Harris County officials on Thursday disputed an estimate released this week showing it would cost $29 million to implode the vacant Reliant Astrodome and build a 1,600-space parking lot in two and a half years. The figure, calculated by local firms Linbeck Construction and Walter P. Moore and Associates after a three-month study [...]
No Dome action yet
It’s still there. Beyond that, nothing to report. Harris County officials put off any final decision on the fate of the Astrodome on Tuesday, though the top executive suggested a new option for the deteriorating stadium. County Judge Ed Emmett said during the capital projects meeting that commissioners will continue to review four options for [...]
Meet the new “What To Do With The Astrodome” report
Not that much different than the old “What To Do With The Astrodome” report. The Astrodome, a now-empty showplace that has hosted everyone from Elvis Presley to Hurricane Katrina evacuees, should be turned into a multipurpose facility that could spark fresh interest in the city of Houston, a group of consultants recommended Wednesday. The $270 [...]
How much would it really cost to tear down the Astrodome?
Perhaps not as much as Harris Country officials have been saying. The expected price tag to demolish the Reliant Astrodome that Harris County officials have cited in recent years far exceeds the cost of razing other stadiums across the country, including domes of comparable size. Officials with the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. are [...]
On cities and counties
I’m really getting tired of all this BS. Smarting from a $353,000 bill for the Reliant complex under the city of Houston’s new drainage fee, Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday discussed seeking legislation to let it keep city sales taxes generated at county facilities. [...] The idea of capturing city sales tax was floated [...]
Lockout or no, it makes no difference to them
Must be nice for them. An extended NFL lockout and the loss of a season for the Texans actually would result in a small financial gain for the governmental body that manages the Reliant Stadium complex, officials said Thursday. The Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., an arm of the county that oversees the Reliant [...]
Eversole and Surface to be tried together
There will be only one more trial relating to the Jerry Eversole case. We think, anyway. Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole and developer Michael Surface, two longtime friends who exchanged more than $100,000 in trips and gifts, will be tried together for bribery in October, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge David Hittner [...]
Trying Eversole, take 2
The two sides in County Commissioner Jerry Eversole’s trial are planning for the sequel. The biggest help to each side, seasoned trial lawyers said, are the jurors who sat through three weeks of testimony. “I relied a lot on input from the jury,” former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes said of his “few” hung [...]
Hung jury for Eversole
It’s the one outcome guaranteed to ensure that nobody is happy. Federal prosecutors plan to retry their corruption case against Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole after a judge today declared a hung jury in the three-week trial on charges that he accepted bribes to steer millions of dollars in contracts to a developer. [...] John [...]
Is it finally time to do something with the Dome?
A few days ago, a woman named Cynthia Neely took to CultureMap to demand that we Do Something about the Astrodome. Regardless of whether you love or hate the Astrodome, the building is owned by the county and in effect belongs to all of us taxpayers. And you are paying for it. Consider these options: [...]
Some day, we will do something about the Astrodome
So says Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. “We on the Commissioners’ Court are going to have to make a decision, and I think it needs to be made this year, as to what we are going to propose to the voters,” he said. “It is a challenge, because every time we take a poll and [...]
Nobody likes the Dome options
Remember the three options for the Astrodome that the Sports and Convention Corporation presented a couple of months ago? That recent KHOU poll included questions about those three options: Harris County is considering three proposals for the Astro Dome. I am going to read you a description of each proposal. Please tell me if you [...]
Do we really want to save the Dome?
According to the Department of Anecdotal Evidence, we do. Respondents to an online survey run by Reliant Park’s landlord “overwhelmingly” support saving the Astrodome, according to the official in charge of the survey. Willie Loston, executive director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, declined to release a detailed breakdown of the 5,800 votes [...]
More on the three options for the Dome
As promised last week, we now have more information on the three options for the Dome. The Sports & Convention Corporation hosted a news conference Monday to present the broad outlines of three possible plans for the 45-year-old Astrodome and 35-year-old Reliant Arena: • Reliant Park Plaza plan: Raze the Dome for $128 million; replace [...]
Three options for the Dome
We’ve been talking for a long time now about what is to become of the Astrodome. Harris County officials have some possible scenarios to discuss next week as part of a master plan for Reliant Park. Like it or not, demolition is on the table. If the Dome is demolished, it would be replaced by [...]
Once again mulling the fate of the Astrodome
Am I the only one who noticed the omission in this story about the current state of the Astrodome? Debt and interest payments will amount to more than $2.4 million this year, according to a payment schedule for the higher debt estimate. The Astrodome’s manager estimates it also will cost $2 million for insurance, maintenance, [...]
The Sports Authority responds
J. Kent Friedman, the chairman of the board of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, contributes this op-ed to counter the idea that taxpayers may be on the hook for some of its obligations. • • Up to $4 million per year of Reliant Stadium parking revenue was pledged to back any shortfall in the Reliant Stadium [...]
The hole the Sports Authority is in
Sure is a great time for stuff like this to happen, isn’t it? Harris County taxpayers may have to inject up to $7 million a year into the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority for the next two years due to a financial crisis sparked by the souring of bonds used to build Minute Maid Park, Reliant [...]
Pity the poor Astrodome
These sure are bad days for the old icon, aren’t they? The Astrodome will not host the rodeo’s nightly country-western dances next month, or any other special event for that matter, as city code violations that would cost millions to remedy threaten to keep the doors shut indefinitely. It would cost Harris County $3 million [...]