Throughout the nation
Houston s Astrodome Was a Vision of the Future. It s Past Its Prime.
The legendary but deteriorating stadium was once a marvel of the world and has long been a cornerstone of Houston culture. Is it worthwhile to save?
WHY WE ARE HERE
One location at a time, we are investigating how America defines itself. For many years, the Astrodome has defined Houston’s landscape. The town must now determine what to do with the massive facility that is no longer in use.
Written by J. David Goodman
Reporting from Houston’s Astrodome, both inside and out
Houston, which is known more for its sprawl than its accumulation, has few landmark buildings. The exception is the Astrodome.
It doesn’t matter that there hasn’t been a baseball or football game played there in 25 years or that there hasn’t been any music played in its cavernous perimeter since George Strait’s voice floated through the upper decks in 2002.
In 1965, it debuted as the country’s first dome stadium, accompanied by a meteor shower of ceremonial pitches thrown by a constellation of astronauts. In a city that is not prone toward nostalgia, the monument continues to evoke a fading idea of a space-age future in Houston’s collective consciousness.
What to do with the massive edifice, however, has brought up difficult issues that many American communities have had to deal with: What is a place without its most famous structure, and is it worth saving?
Other cities, such as the 1964 World’s Fair pavilion in Queens, New York, an Olympic stadium in Montreal, or the Marine Stadium in Miami, have struggled with what to do with the beloved but vanishing symbols of past times.
Emotional reactions are evoked by proposals to destroy them. However, the idea of using public funds to save such buildings, particularly those under local government control like the Astrodome, is also controversial.
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