Houston Astrodome (Houston, Texas: 1965) History: Though it carried the clunky, official title of the Harris County Domed Stadium when it opened, the Astrodome was quickly nicknamed the “Eighth Wonder of the World” (typical Texas-sized modesty). Former Houston Mayor Roy Hofheinz organized a winning bid to bring a baseball team to Houston on the condition they build a covered stadium to compensate for Texas summer temperatures; Hofheinz supposedly drew inspiration for the dome from the cloth “valeria” that covered the Roman Colosseum. Home to the Houston Astros until 2000, the Astrodome also hosted the first televised NCAA basketball game, the Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and an Evel Knievel stunt jump (plans to jump the stadium fell through) before falling into disuse in the early 2000s. Status: After the Astrodome was named one of the National Trust's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2013, the Harris County Sports and Convention Center, which runs the site, unveiled the New Dome Experience plan to turn the stadium into a multiuse facility (a forward-thinking plan with more support than previous ideas of turning the dome into a hotel or movie production studio). Houston voters rejected a bond referendum last fall that would have moved the plan forward. What You Can Do: The building is currently in limbo; demolition isn’t slated yet, mostly because of the cost and potential environmental damage that would ensue. While it hasn’t been updated recently, the New Dome PAC site hosts plans and photos of the dome’s past and (potential) future. Image Credit: Bukowsky18, Creative Commons Photo 3 of 9 in 8 Endangered Modern Structures

8 Endangered Modern Structures

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Houston Astrodome (Houston, Texas: 1965)

History: Though it carried the clunky, official title of the Harris County Domed Stadium when it opened, the Astrodome was quickly nicknamed the “Eighth Wonder of the World” (typical Texas-sized modesty). Former Houston Mayor Roy Hofheinz organized a winning bid to bring a baseball team to Houston on the condition they build a covered stadium to compensate for Texas summer temperatures; Hofheinz supposedly drew inspiration for the dome from the cloth “valeria” that covered the Roman Colosseum. Home to the Houston Astros until 2000, the Astrodome also hosted the first televised NCAA basketball game, the Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and an Evel Knievel stunt jump (plans to jump the stadium fell through) before falling into disuse in the early 2000s.

Status: After the Astrodome was named one of the National Trust's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2013, the Harris County Sports and Convention Center, which runs the site, unveiled the New Dome Experience plan to turn the stadium into a multiuse facility (a forward-thinking plan with more support than previous ideas of turning the dome into a hotel or movie production studio). Houston voters rejected a bond referendum last fall that would have moved the plan forward.

What You Can Do: The building is currently in limbo; demolition isn’t slated yet, mostly because of the cost and potential environmental damage that would ensue. While it hasn’t been updated recently, the New Dome PAC

site hosts plans and photos of the dome’s past and (potential) future.

Image Credit: Bukowsky18, Creative Commons