By Brianna Griff – Associate editor, Houston Business Journal
June 30, 2023
Houston has become a hot spot for major events, but the fate of the landmark stadium remains in limbo.
Some say it’s an eyesore and that it should be demolished, while others call it a landmark
and campaign for it to be saved. It’s large, controversial, confusing and empty — it’s the
Astrodome.
“The negative voices are the ones that are shouting the loudest,” said Beth Wiedower-
Jackson, executive director of the Astrodome Conservancy.
The Astrodome, the world’s first domed sports stadium, has once again been put in the
national spotlight thanks to high-profile sports events in the adjacent NRG Stadium,
such as 2017’s Super Bowl LI and, most recently, the 2026 World Cup coming to Houston.
With renewed attention both locally and nationally, many are left to ask: What’s up with
that Dome?
But Wiedower-Jackson said there is still ample support for the Astrodome to stay.
Thousands of respondents have participated in the Conservancy’s community
engagement exercises over the past two years. Of those who answered the question,
“Should we save the Astrodome?” 80% said yes.
Why isn’t anything being done to the Dome then? There may be support for repurposing
the stadium, but it’s not as easy as finding a billionaire to fund a refurbish. There are
three separate entities to consider: Harris County, which owns the building, and NRG
Park’s two tenants, the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
(HLSR). The lease for both tenants ends in 2032, which could open the door to more
possibilities.
Ryan Walsh has heard countless proposals as to how to repurpose the Astrodome in his
five years as CEO and executive director of the Harris County Sports and Convention
Corporation (HCSCC).
“One of the hiccups was that a lot of people saw the Astrodome as a freestanding
building in the middle of a parking lot,” he said. “Instead, the Astrodome is an existing
building sitting in the middle of an existing sports and entertainment complex that has
contractual obligations to existing tenants.”
Who pays for it?
NRG Park currently hosts around 500 events a year and has to turn down requests, Walsh
said, but an Astrodome remodel could lead to more venue areas. The Rodeo could also
benefit from the option to stretch its operations into the Astrodome.
“We support any ideas that lead to positive change and contribute to the long-term
growth of the city and county,” Chris Boleman, president and CEO at the Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo, said in a statement to HBJ. “The Rodeo is supportive of a
plan to create additional usable space that would contribute to the Rodeo’s mission and
further enhance our annual event.”
While increasing the rentable space is appealing, Walsh questions if money should be
invested into the Astrodome or into the 20-year-old NRG Park.
“There’s a lot of competition from a market standpoint for us to keep the facilities
modern and marketable and to industry standard,” Walsh said. “Do you put $300
(million) to $500 million into the Astrodome when you’re making 80% or 85% of your
revenue (in NRG Stadium), including the Convention Center, or do you kind of spread it
around for the betterment of the whole park?”
He estimates that $300 million to $500 million would need to be invested into
refurbishing the Astrodome for it to be a usable space for events and programming.
Wiedower-Jackson said she believes it would be about $3 million to get the building
operational from a certificate of occupancy, with a wholesale redevelopment costing
between $150 million to $350 million.
“Certainly, as time goes on, that cost just gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” Walsh said.
It’s a misconception that Harris County taxpayers are footing the bill for NRG Park, Walsh
said. Harris County doesn’t provide regular funding for NRG Park beyond paying the
utilities and reimbursement for the property and flood insurance. Every dollar that NRG
Park earns is invested back into the campus.
“It’s a hard argument to go to the county and say, ‘Well, we need $20 million for a new
roof for NRG Stadium,’” Walsh said. “And the commissioners and the judge are going to
say, ‘OK, well, tell me where to take money. Is that health care? Is that criminal justice? Is
that roads and bridges?’”
What about NRG Park’s tenants?
Walsh said discussions occur monthly with the tenants and HCSCC about what projects
need to be completed in the park and what takes priority.
“As a tenant that utilizes the entire NRG Park complex, the care and maintenance of the
buildings that are currently in use — NRG Stadium, NRG Center and NRG Arena — will
remain a top priority for the Rodeo,” Boleman said.
Walsh points to newer stadiums and entertainment complexes such as Mercedes-Benz
Stadium in Atlanta and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, that NRG Stadium must
compete with for events such as Super Bowl bids.
Upcoming events at NRG Stadium, such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2024 College
Football Playoff National Championship, haven’t affected the decisions around the
Astrodome, Walsh said, but it has turned a spotlight onto the building.
“A lot of the big groups like FIFA or NCAA certainly, they ask the question, ‘Well, what
about that building?’” Walsh said. “It certainly brings the Dome up yet again. So, it’s not
going to go away, obviously.”
Houston First Corp., the city’s tourism corporation, is part of the conversations
surrounding NRG Park’s future. Houston First supports NRG Park’s effort to “look
holistically at the complex,” President and CEO Michael Heckman said.
“We believe such a plan, which could include additional development and enhancement
of the current facilities, will make for a more attractive and competitive product,”
Heckman said. “That type of progress will only increase the value of NRG Park and
Houston’s appeal as a destination for tourism and major events.”
Before any decision can be made on the Astrodome or NRG Park, Harris County residents
must be considered. Part of the Astrodome Conservancy’s mission is to advocate for
public access since the county owns the building.
“We pay taxes here, we own that building and the public needs to be able to access their
building at some point during the year,” Wiedower-Jackson said.
Harris County’s involvement
Ask a Houstonian what is happening with the Astrodome, and they’re likely to respond
that they thought we voted to demolish it in 2013. Or was it a vote to refurbish it? The
confusion is warranted.
In 2013, Harris County voters did vote down a $217 million proposal to turn the
Astrodome into a multiuse event space. Then in 2018, the Harris County Commissioners
Court approved a reduced version of 2013’s plan, a $105 million proposal put forth by
former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
But once Emmett lost his reelection bid, his successor Judge Lina Hidalgo led the charge
to squash the plan due to concerns about the project’s viability. Since then, the
Astrodome has existed in limbo with less than 1% of Harris County’s budget used to
maintain it. Judge Hidalgo’s office did not respond to requests for comments for this
article.
Judge Emmett always considered the $105 million plan to just be the first phase,
Wiedower-Jackson said.
“Judge Emmett would say, ‘Let us do this basic infrastructure, and then the Conservancy
can come in and make it wow,’” she said. “When Judge Hidalgo came in and pushed
pause and wanted to look at it again, it gave us an opportunity to say, ‘We can do better.’ I
think that’s what we’re working toward right now.”
Wiedower-Jackson jokes that she thinks about the Astrodome every waking moment of
her life. That’s no surprise as Wiedower-Jackson has been tasked with the job of not only
rescuing the Astrodome from the wrecking ball but for it to be both financially self-
sufficient and a benefit to the public as well.
Supporters of the Dome may point to the Texas State Antiquities Landmark designation
it received in 2017 as a promise that it will be protected, but it’s not necessarily so.
The designation only means that a permit has to be obtained from the Texas Historical
Commission to do anything to the building, such as when the exterior was power
washed, Walsh said.
“If the county or the Sports Corporation or whoever were to submit a permit for
demolition under, hypothetically, a financial hardship or whatever, I think it would be
considered,” Walsh said. “I couldn’t speak to whether or not be approved or not, but
that’s not to say that we couldn’t submit that application. I’m not advocating for or
against it.”
Community development
Ask Wiedower-Jackson what she envisions for the future of the Astrodome, and she
enthusiastically lists off numerous ideas ranging from a site similar to downtown’s
Discovery Green to a satellite post for Space Center Houston.
“You’ve got 9 acres on the floor; you’ve got almost 500,000 square feet around,” she said.
“The concourse space is almost 100 feet deep. You could do a lot in this space, all the
way around for seven to nine levels.”
Wiedower-Jackson envisions populating the surrounding concourse area with revenue-
generating businesses, while leaving the 9 acres on the Astrodome’s floor open for
seasonal rentals, such as the Rodeo, high school football playoffs, festivals or even art
installations.
“In theory, (NRG Park) would like to see more year-round draws to the park,” she said.
“There’s certainly the space to do it, and the Conservancy is saying, ‘Let us be the
catalyst.’”
All these ideas rely on two things: people and money. Both Wiedower-Jackson and Walsh
know that the community surrounding NRG Park cannot currently support a mixed-use
retail space daily.
“This area has been, I’d say, underdeveloped for years,” Walsh said. “It’s kind of a
chicken or egg. Do we wait for the development and then start thinking about these
things? I think collectively inside the park gates, we’ve all said we need to be the catalyst
to make that development happen.”