posted on July 01, 2010 23:51
Earlier this month, Harris County officials offered up three different options for the Astrodome, and the Houston Business Journal let readers weigh in on what they think should be done with Houston’s most famous relic in this week’s BusinessPulse survey.
The options were:
• Level it and replace with a plaza, which carries a $873 million price tag;
• The science center, conference center, planetarium and county and city museum option dubbed “Astrodome Renaissance,” along with a hotel and possible movie studio, priced at $1.35 billion;
• A science and technology center and place for storage at $1.13 billion; and
• HBJ added “nothing” and “other” as other possible choices.
An intermediate plan, at $1.13 billion, would be to “repurpose” the dome, make it a science and technology center and a place for storage.
Nearly half — 46 percent — of the 676 total responses were for the second option that included the conference center.
Another 26 percent thought it should be demolished for a plaza, and 13 percent liked the science and technology center/storage choice. Four percent voted for nothing to happen to the Astrodome. The remaining 12 percent of the vote was for something other than what was listed.
Reader comments ranged from the Astrodome as Houston heritage to repurposing it for something else.
Donald H. said, “C’mon Houston, stop taking a back seat to world-class destinations. Let’s take something that once was a source of pride and not just restore it ... turn it into something that will make the world take notice. That’s who we are !!!”
June 24th, 2010 | Houston Business Journal