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Astrodome History At 8400 Kirby Dr.


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Sept. 23, 2004, 1:03AM

The 'Eighth Wonder of the World' may be resurrected as a 1,000-room convention hotel and entertainment complex

New life for an old Dome

By BILL MURPHY and BILL HENSEL

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Kevin Fujii / Chronicle

DORMANT: Renovation of the Reliant Astrodome would cost about $400 million.

In a major shift, the company looking to redevelop the Reliant Astrodome has shelved plans to turn it into a space theme park and is instead looking to convert it into primarily a large convention hotel.

The new plan still calls for some rides, possibly even of the space variety, other entertainment, restaurants, a cineplex and retail stores.

But much of the area would be taken up by as many as 1,000 hotel rooms that would serve, in part, those attending conventions at nearby Reliant Center, said Willie Loston, executive director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp.

"Part of our interest in this concept would be to increase the use of Reliant Center," he said Wednesday. "That would not be at the expense of the George R. Brown (Convention Center). We're trying to attract business to Houston that doesn't come here now."

If the plan becomes a reality, Houston, which never had a convention hotel until the Hilton Americas opened next to the George R. Brown late last year, would have two as early as 2008.

The city owns the Hilton and the George R. Brown.

In the coming months, Astrodome Redevelopment Co., the company seeking to find another life for the former "Eighth Wonder of the World," will conduct detailed studies of whether the facility would be profitable, company President Scott Hanson said.

If the studies conclude that it will be feasible, the company has lenders in place willing to finance what is expected to be a $400 million transformation, Hanson said.

The sports and convention corporation, which oversees the Reliant Park complex, and Commissioners Court would have to approve the project.

Without spelling out exactly what the company envisions, Hanson did disclose that the facility's amusement park component would have several themes, including space.

There would be no rides that require rails.

Many of the hotel rooms would overlook a striking interior that includes the amusement park features, retail stores and restaurants, said Bruce Broberg, an engineer at architectural giant URS, which is working on the project.

Motorists on Loop 610 who eye the scruffy stadium daily would view an exterior that was cleaned, restored and spruced up with new elements to give it a distinguished appearance, Broberg said.

Inside and out, "it will have a world-class appearance," Hanson said.

Hilton Americas would remain the biggest hotel in the city, with 1,200 rooms, but the proposed hotel could become the second largest.

Astrodome Redevelopment was created specifically to redevelop the stadium.

Among the companies involved are Oceaneering International Inc., URS, theme park developer NBGS International and Falcon's Treehouse, a Florida-based design firm.

Early stages

The company initially proposed dividing the Astrodome's interior into quadrants, each with rides and attractions intended to let visitors experience the sights and sensations of space travel.

The plan also called for retail stores and a hotel, but a much smaller hotel than the one now planned.

That initial plan was among seven proposals submitted to the sports and convention corporation when it solicited ideas on what to do with the mostly idle facility.

Hanson said it was too early to say whether the company would ask the county to help pay for the project and ask for tax relief.

Loston said, "There are many things that could derail this."

Hanson said the proposed hotel would draw new business to Reliant Center, not take it away from the downtown George R. Brown-Hilton Americas.

As head of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jordy Tollett tries to attract conventions to the George R. Brown. But he said he does not oppose converting the Astrodome into a convention hotel because it would simply mean more hotel revenue for the region.

He declined to say whether the proposed hotel would decrease business at the Hilton Americas.

John Keeling, a senior vice president at PKF Consulting, which provides services to the hotel and tourism industries, said the city and the county need to study whether two convention centers with nearby hotels could be profitable and not turn into cut-throat competitors.

"There are not very many successful examples of that around the country," he said.

In cities where they have been successful, usually one convention area is downtown and the other is at the airport, he said. "The reason for having it at the airport is for the fly-in, fly-out convention," Keeling said.

Similar projects successful

PKF Consulting provides services to the hospitality, real estate and tourism industries.

Astrodome Redevelopment's idea, he said, sounds similar to a project that was done outside Dallas, where a 1,500-room hotel with an indoor theme park was built.

"In general, what it sounds like they are trying to do is like the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine," Keeling said. "That is an entertainment-driven convention hotel."

The Gaylord Texan overlooks Lake Grapevine and features a 25,000-square-foot spa and fitness center. Guests also can use the adjacent 18-hole Cowboys Golf Club.

Similar hotel projects also have been done in Nashville and Orlando.

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There would have to be more to it than simply a large hotel. The plan as stated in the news was rather vague, but I am sure the entertainment aspect would be a good addition. Plus theres ALL THAT SPACE.

Conventioneers must have something to do while here. We do have two large and flexible convention facilities in place and the additional lodging would eventually be absorbed.

I wonder how often the two facilities would butt heads for the same groups?

As a point of refernce; in Downtown Dallas there exists a large convention center and 3 large convention type hotels. The Adams Mark has close to two thousand rooms. The Hyatt Regency Reunion has been expanded and now has over one thousand rooms and the Anatole further up 35 has close to Sixteen hundred rooms. All three of these large hotels have their own in house convention and meeting facilities.

Dallas has benefitted from this synergy in the past by having the larger hotels co-host large events or groups.

I am certainly no expert on the hospitality industry, but a second convention hotel and center might help Houston eventually compete at the highest levels.

Short term (relative phrase) viability would be a serious question.

What can Houston and our surrounding areas do to help attract conventions of such size? What other amenities could or should we look into adding?

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this project would greatly enhance the annual livestock and rodeo for out of town guests. in addition, the car shows and tech shows, etc. that occur at reliant center would benefit. proximity to the rail line certainly aids it's viability.

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I know!

We should build Virgin mega store or an ESPN zone club.  That will bring them in.

What the hell does Dallas have that's so entertaining? The Sixth floor museum does not an entertaining weekend make.

I have no idea how Dallas gets those conventions.It must be better city management because the place is boring.I have relatives who live there and drive down here pretty often for entertainment.

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Scrap the convention idea, Astroworld should expand into a top-of-the-line facility by building around the Astrodome. The bridge over the freeway could link "ye old Astroworld" to the new, modern complex. The Astrodome should be absorbed and turned into a REALLY cool ride or experience of some sort, something totally unique and unlike your traditional roller-coaster. The rest of the land would be devoted to parking garages and park space.

Hey, if visitors are really what we're after, look at Busch Gardens or Disneyworld, not some convention hotel complex. Plus, downtown's hurting for conventions as it is.

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A few years back I got to wondering the same thing and wrote Harris County to find out. I thought at the time that maybe it could be re-installed. They wrote back that it had been disassembled and wasn't available, meaning it was scrapped. :( It was 474 feet long.

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I can tell ya'll running out of topics in here, cause ya'll now talking about astrodome scoreboard. Jeez!

But the sign was famous! Even now at MMP they show images from the old scoreboard when someone hits a home run.

Shots of the "exploding" sequence:

astro31.jpg

astro32.jpg

astro33.jpg

astro34.jpg

h-art-4.jpg

Some more from the same site:

Dining facilities:

astro49.jpg

Presidential Suite

astro35.jpg

Hofheinz Office:

astro37.jpg

Under construction:

lam-7.jpg

1965 Astros:

astro52.jpg

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