The Houston Astrodome has sat empty for years and has been without a professional sports team since the Astros moved out 13 years ago. It has been considered “uninhabitable” for over three years, with its last use coming as a refugee center for Hurricane Katrina victims. The county still owes $30 million in construction debt on the nearly 50 year-old structure and has to pay a couple million a year for basic upkeep. Meanwhile, the cost to demolish it is thought to be upwards of $70 million. Renovating it for some use or another will be a couple hundred million. It’s a disaster, frankly.
And it’s a disaster that won’t be resolved anytime soon:The dilemma of the deteriorating Houston Astrodome remained unresolved Tuesday with the passing of a deadline to put a bond referendum before voters in May. Harris County commissioners took no action on the ballot initiative to raise millions of dollars to do something with the 48-year-old vacant stadium. But no one’s really sure what to do with it.
A similar deadline last year to put the question before voters in November also came and went.
“We have waited for ideas for years and years on the dome,” Commissioner Steve Radack told The Houston Chronicle. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we wait years and years more before something happens.”Eighth Wonders of the World ain’t what they used to be.
