The Astrodome in Houston

The Astrodome is still standing, and still waiting

ByMarcus Tolliver

Photo: EricEnfermero, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Harris County Domed Stadium opened in April 1965. Judge Roy Hofheinz, the former mayor who pushed the project, called it the Eighth Wonder of the World. It was the first fully enclosed, air-conditioned multipurpose stadium, and it made a statement about Houston’s ambitions.

The original grass died under the glass roof panels, which had been painted to reduce glare. The solution was a synthetic surface that became known as AstroTurf, installed in 1966.

Tenants and events

The Astros and the Oilers played there. It hosted the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, concerts, the 1968 college basketball game between Houston and UCLA, and the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

The Oilers left for Tennessee after the 1996 season, and the Astros moved to their downtown ballpark in 2000. When Reliant Stadium, now NRG Stadium, opened next door in 2002, the Dome lost its purpose. In 2005, it sheltered thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.

What next

The county has spent years studying ideas: a hotel, a park, a film studio and an indoor parking garage. Voters in 2013 rejected a bond to convert it into an event space. The Dome was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 and later designated a State Antiquities Landmark, making demolition harder.

In 2018, the county approved a plan to raise the floor and build parking underneath, but that plan stalled. The building remains closed, and its future remains a political question.

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