Houston Public Media – March 30, 2023
by Adam Zuvanich
The NCAA Men’s Final Four has the national spotlight on Houston and NRG Park, where the historic domed stadium sits unused. What’s next for the Astrodome? In short, not much at all.
The world’s first domed sports stadium, a colossal, air-conditioned creation of former Harris County judge, Houston mayor and Houston Astros co-owner Roy Hofheinz in the early 1960s, housed the city’s professional baseball and football franchises as well as the United States’ largest rodeo. The Astrodome also hosted a Republican National Convention and some of the biggest events and stars in American sports and entertainment, with Elvis Presley, Selena and George Strait performing concerts there, “The Battle of the Sexes” tennis match being staged there, Muhammad Ali fighting there and the “Game of the Century” – a nationally televised college basketball showdown between the University of Houston and UCLA in 1968 – being played there.
Now, as the NCAA Men’s Final Four brings a national spotlight back to Houston this weekend, the Astrodome just sits there, having been mostly unused and unoccupied for the last two decades. It could be described as a 9-acre waste of space next to NRG Stadium, which dwarfs the once-iconic dome and will play host to the college basketball games on Saturday and Monday.
And while seeing the Astrodome might inspire awe and conjure fond memories among those coming to town, it also figures to be a source of curiosity for visitors and locals wondering what’s going on with it. The state of the dome and prospects for its future weigh on the minds of those who scout the surrounding NRG Park for special events, according to Ryan Walsh, the CEO and executive director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, a governmental nonprofit that manages the complex on behalf of the county.