Nancy Sarnoff reports.
A new page has sprung up on Facebook called Save the Astrodome.
It was created by the Houstonian behind www.AmnesiaHouston.org, a Web site aimed at bringing attention to the city’s disappearing landmarks.
The creator compares the Astrodome to the Eiffel Tower and wonders, “what else it could be.”
That’s the question, isn’t it? As noted before, none of the ideas that have been floated for what to do with the Dome seem to have gone anywhere. I’m sure some of that is a function of the economy, but none of those schemes had gotten much traction before things went south, either. If you can solve the “what to do with it” problem, the rest takes care of itself. And please, the “why not let it be the new home of the Dynamo?” question has long been answered and was never a viable option anyway. I go back and forth on this, but in the end this is what it will come down to. If there’s something that can be done with it, I believe it will. If not, well, kaboom. It’s as simple as that.
I too would like to see it saved but apparently many of the uses proposed have been knocked down by the rodeo committee and the Texans.
I predict that, like so many other things in this city, the Astrodome will be debated to death. People will debate and debate about what to do with the Astrodome, the ideas will get shot down one-by-one and eventually, the condition of the structure will deteriorate to such an extent that the only available option at that point is to sell the seats and tear it down. Frankly, we may have already reached that point.
Sad to say, but Houston has never really cared too much for its history or for preservation. Doesn’t look like things have changed.
I’ve been an adamant, “SAVE THE DOME” person myself for many years now, but I have recently started to realize that saving the Dome may not be in the best interests of the city. In the end, you are talking about an incredible amount of money to restore this building into something it was never intended to be. This would be the most Houston thing to do; finding a very creative solution to the problem. In fact, the Astrodome is a testament to that kind of thinking.
However, the money! it would take to achieve that goal is a ridiculous expectation for the residents of Harris County to pay, and there are no viable private options available. All the while, Harris County taxpayers are footing the bill for a building with no purpose and no future.
No, while I am suggesting blowing it up is the right direction, it has to come with caveats of preserving the Dome’s legacy as a historic lightning rod for this city and something must be done with the space besides turning it into a parking lot. I also believe it is time for the Rodeo and Texans to take a leadership role in the future of the Dome. If they are so keen on rejecting projects, then they need to step up and figure out what CAN be done, and stop telling people what CAN’T happen.