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What do we do with the Astrodome?
KHOU ^ | 03/21/2013 | Doug Miller

Posted on 03/22/2013 1:25:34 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd

HOUSTON -- Behold what has become of the eighth wonder of the world. The Astrodome sits dark, dusty, dilapidated and haunted by Houston’s history.

Giant signs touting bearing outdated logos for corporate sponsors like Continental Airlines hang over orange seats with ripped cushions. Skyboxes are furnished with outdated furniture and old Zenith television sets. Astroturf sits carelessly tossed on the stadium floor, folded over like discarded carpet left behind in an abandoned home.

“What do I see?” said Edgar Colon, chairman of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., as he looked around the empty stadium. “I see a lot of history.”

Once a centerpiece of civic pride, the Astrodome now sits at the center of a squabble between civic leaders. On one side sits a couple of very influential tenants, the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which lease Reliant Stadium and Reliant Center. On the other side sits leaders of Harris County, which owns the complex that includes the long-vacant Astrodome.

For the Texans and the HLSR, the dome is the eyesore next door, a grungy and rundown neighbor next to one of the finest football stadiums in the nation.

For Harris County leaders, it’s an expensive and politically vexing conundrum that’s costing millions of taxpayer dollars and will inevitably cost tens of millions more.

(Excerpt) Read more at khou.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Sports
KEYWORDS: astrodome
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To: palmerizedCaddis

Nope. The article says there is still $30 million in bonds still owing from the 80’s or 90’s.


21 posted on 03/22/2013 1:48:03 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: wolfman

We already have one, it’s in Austin.


22 posted on 03/22/2013 1:48:19 PM PDT by slouper (Love it or leave it.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

How many cats do they have in there now?


23 posted on 03/22/2013 1:48:19 PM PDT by deport
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To: Responsibility2nd

Turn it into a mega-church.


24 posted on 03/22/2013 1:49:14 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Responsibility2nd
Indoor pistol and rifle range. 100-yard rifle range right down the field (actually, you could do five or six rifle ranges there, one stacked atop the other). Pistol ranges along both field sidelines, facing out (perpendicular to the field)

Alternative use: New Magpul factory location.

Door #3: All of the above!

C'mon, it's *Texas*.

25 posted on 03/22/2013 1:49:45 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: trisham

Me too. I love to watch games from there on my TV at home where I am much more comfortable.
The last time I was there was, I believe, 1994, the last game before the All Star Game that year of the strike. I don’t need to go back any more.


26 posted on 03/22/2013 1:49:51 PM PDT by Past Your Eyes (I've all but given up my crusade to rid the world of fools; there are, I found, just too many.)
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To: trisham
Isn't that the "House John Kerry Built" ?


27 posted on 03/22/2013 1:51:09 PM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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To: nascarnation

28 posted on 03/22/2013 1:54:45 PM PDT by Past Your Eyes (I've all but given up my crusade to rid the world of fools; there are, I found, just too many.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

They should have told the Lastros to take a hike instead of building them a new playpen. There was nothing wrong the Dome. The loser Texannes didn’t need a new playpen either.(They’d be in last place too if they were in a real division- every other division team kicked their tails) The Dome would be fine for both of these losers.


29 posted on 03/22/2013 1:55:11 PM PDT by Smittie
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To: texanyankee
Turn it over to DHS for a holding facility?

Or maybe an armory. DHS an store all the bullets they bought there.

30 posted on 03/22/2013 1:57:19 PM PDT by MCH
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To: Past Your Eyes
Fenway Park (God, forgive me) is an eyesore, an antiquary curiosity, not a great ballpark. It has had some great history, granted. As venue to watch a ball game, (mea culpa, mea cupla, mea maxima culpa) Yankee Stadium, Shea, Hadlock Field, Camden Yards, even gawdawful McCoy Stadium (Pawtucket) are better. As for transportation? Miserable. Pahkin’? Fuggetabouddit.
31 posted on 03/22/2013 1:57:41 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (What word begins with "O" and ends in economic collapse?)
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To: nascarnation
No. From Wikipedia:

Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912 and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use.

Because of the ballpark's age and constrained location in the dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has had many renovations and additions over the years not initially envisioned, resulting in unique, quirky features, including "The Triangle", "Pesky's Pole", and most notably the famous Green Monster in left field. The Red Sox have sold out every home game since May 15, 2003; in 2008, the park sold out its 456th consecutive Red Sox game, breaking a Major League Baseball record. Fans who attended this game received gifts to celebrate this accomplishment.

As of July 17, 2012, the Red Sox have had 760 consecutive sellouts, which is the longest such streak in Major League Baseball history;[6] the club, however, includes all tickets distributed (paid or free) when reporting attendance.[7] The sellout streak is driven by the Red Sox's loyal fan base, the success of the Red Sox during this time (a winning record over nine seasons, during which time the team achieved at least 90 wins seven times, six playoff appearances and two World Series Championships), and Fenway Park's low capacity: fourth lowest in seating capacity and second lowest in total of all MLB stadiums; it is one of the seven MLB ballparks that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.

32 posted on 03/22/2013 1:57:49 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

33 posted on 03/22/2013 1:59:12 PM PDT by zeestephen
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To: Past Your Eyes

The last time I went there was in 2003 or 2004. It was wonderful. My husband has gone a number of times since then. He loves it, too.


34 posted on 03/22/2013 1:59:58 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

My Dad (RIP) was from Connecticut and a big Boston fan.
We would go there on vacation when I was a kid.
I wouldn’t go within 500 miles of the place today.


35 posted on 03/22/2013 2:00:15 PM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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To: Responsibility2nd
I saw some great motorcycle racing there back in the 70s.
TT & short track every February a couple of weeks before Daytona.
36 posted on 03/22/2013 2:03:57 PM PDT by Tupelo (Old, Bald, Ugly, Fat and Broke in Arizona)
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To: nascarnation

Connecticut is a beautiful state. My husband went to school in Fairfield. A few years ago on our way back from Florida, he took a road that had beautiful views of the countryside, with some of the loveliest old bridges that I have ever seen.


37 posted on 03/22/2013 2:05:39 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

I know it’s been years, but my uncle got the contract for most of the steel in the concrete for the Astrodome, Astro Domain and the parking areas. Got rich on that contract alone.


38 posted on 03/22/2013 2:11:02 PM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (For Jay Carney - I heard your birth certificate is an apology from the condom factory.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

“How about the Quannel X Center for the Victimized with Made Up Names?”

Most people do not realize that QX makes his living on ‘rewards’ he collects for turning in his ‘bruthas’ who have committed crimes.

For one particular case in the early 2000s the reward was $25K.


39 posted on 03/22/2013 2:12:49 PM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Learn three chords and you, too, can be a Rock Star!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

In Seattle they blew the King dome up.
It blowed up real good.


40 posted on 03/22/2013 2:18:15 PM PDT by right way right (What's it gonna take? (guillotines?))
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