What Happened to the Astrodome? ABANDONED?
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2024
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Intro Song is Wildflower by Monoscape - View his bandcamp here: monoscape.bandcamp.com
Outro song is Luv Ya Blue by Mack Hayes
The inside of a stadium is a common image today but in 1965, the idea of an enclosed stadium as wild as the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. Despite hosting no Super Bowls and limited playoff appearances from the Oilers and Astros, the Astrodome has quite the story in and of itself, and is a lesson of how if you are relentless in your pursuit, you can accomplish anything you can think of.
The brainchild of Roy Hofheinz, the Astrodome was originally deemed a necesity as Houston was too hot to play baseball outside during the summer. Despite the Houston Oilers being already in existence, Hofheinz and a group of business leaders wanted to bring major league baseball to the city, and promised the National League a state of the art stadium as part of their bid for the Colt 45s, who later became the Houston Astros.
The "Eigth Wonder of the World" ironically quickly became outdated. After witnessing the rise of professional sports, the dome was too small to house the crowds to justify the economics of both teams, who demanded a renovation, which ultimately satisfied nobody, with Bud Adams and the Oilers choosing to leave town and the Astros were left forced to make something happen. As a result of its small size, the venue never hosted the Super Bowl.
The stadium has had a rather queit millenium since the Astros left in 1999. Code violations have prevented Harris County from using it for events and lack of public will hasn't allowed for the site to be changed into anything else. Houston residents have voiced a strong desire to keep their international landmark, but as proposals pass by with no momentum, it appears that public financing is increasingly becoming less and less of a viable option for the the dome's preservation.
Join me in the 17th episode of Modern Ruins as we explore how this iconic venue came about, the story it wrote for so many fans, and why after 20 years since its last event, its just as ready now more than ever for a savior.
What Happened to the Astrodome? ABANDONED?
00:00 Intro
2:57 Background
7:13 Planning the New Stadium
11:24 Grand Opening
14:59 Oilers Move In
18:25 Roy Hofheinz Decline & Assets Seized
20:29 Renovation, Oilers Departure
24:22 Astros Stay, Build New Stadium
26:13 NFL Expansion Team, Reliant Stadium Constructed
28:50 Last Concert, Major Events Hosted, Pop Culture References
31:20 Fire Marshall Forces Dome Closure
32:42 Various Proposals To Modify the Dome
37:04 Final Thoughts
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just an FYI its national league DIVISION series not DISTRICT series
@@woody4077 This isn't the Hunger Games!
@@LaBreeceTV true however you did say "national league district series"
put commercials on another channel be nice.
Pretty pretty please could you make a vid on The baker hotel in Mineral Wells Texas?!?! 🥺 I can never find a good video on its history.
It needs to become a museum full of memorabilia of all the events that happened over it’s time of use.
This is why I appreciate Dodger Stadium so much. Through all its upgrades, it still maintains its Mid-Century Modern architecture. It looks much like it did when it first opened in 1962. Southern California was the epicenter of the aerospace industry in the 1950's and 60's and Dodger Stadium reflects that space-age optimism. It is actually the third oldest stadium in all of MLB. Likewise, I really hope the Astrodome is restored and preserved as a monument to the space program, American ingenuity, and all the historic events that happened there over the last half of the 20th century..
If only a fan from a team that isn't the Dodgers could attend a game there without risking getting the shit beat out of them by the ill tempered alcoholic toddlers that make up Los Angeles.
Best thing about it - it's still known as Dodger Stadium!
Not "T-Mobile", not"QualComm", not "Staples", or any of that advertising crap!
That was the one condition when the O'Malley's sold the team, that it always be called Dodger Stadium.
You should look at doing a video on North Wilkesboro Speedway. It was abandoned and left for dead in 1996 but will return next season to the NASCAR schedule and will host the all star race. The track is currently undergoing a renovation/restoration that will make it modern but keep the old historic look of the track. The state of NC help make it possible by providing funding.
Thanks for the tip.
Ahh yes, the classic example of it only working because rich people got taxpayer handouts.
Wilkesboro were the Tyson Foods factory ID located? I'm from Winston-Salem
Whoopteedodo you can't polish a turd
I remember as a kid going to games in the dome, going to
Astroworld, then as a teen working at a hot dog stand and getting to see games and the rodeo, and other events. The last time I was visiting Houston, I drove around, and it made me sad with the changes to the complex. I really hope a use for the stadium comes up.
didn't know they did rodeos there, that's awesome
Same 😢
@@MrJCerqueira Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has been the largest in the world since the Dome days.
So nobody's gonna mention WrestleMania 17 being hosted? 67+ thousand fans
No mention of the 1971 MEN'S NCAA HOOPS FINAL FOUR featuring two teams that had to forfeit their semis and finals games weeks after they played them due to their players hiring agents and being paid to play before they declared for the NBA & ABA drafts= SEMIFINALIST= WESTERN KENTUCKY, thanx to JIM MCDANIELS= FORFEITING THEIR SEMIS SPOT; AND, VILLANOVA, A FINALIST LOSING TO UCLA, FORFEITING THEIR RUNNERUP SPOT, THANX TO HOWARD PORTER..
He mentioned it.
He mentioned it
Thank you for this comprehensive and objective look at the Astrodome! One of the best I’ve seen. So many wonderful memories as a kid of The Dome from the 80’s and 90’s. Astros, Oilers, Houston Rodeo, Even saw Guns N Roses/Metallica and U2 there. It’s truly an iconic place. It’s now dwarfed by NRG Stadium, but it will always hold a special place for me.
They ruined the Dome when they removed the old scoreboard, sad indeed.
I was at the Metallica / GnR show in 92
There's also a 13 minute video on the Dome that's pretty good as well by Bright Sun Media.
We moved to Houston from Ft. Worth in 1990 and my wife loved the Astrodome. You could go from your car in 100 degree heat and stifling humidity to cool comfort inside the 'Dome. I also ran the 'Dome Run" 10k one year that had the 50 yard line of the football field as the finish line. Great memories. We moved from Houston in 1999.
Do you ever miss Houston?
@@sirot5561 I live near Austin now and do get to Houston from time to time. I wouldn’t want to move back however. Too much humidity!
It won't ever be demolished now because it's a national landmark.
That's good I hope they don't
As it should be
If it was a national landmark, they would take care of it. It’s rotting away and you can tell as you look over from 610.
It serves no purpose. It should be demolished. Costs 2 million each year to keep up just to sit there.
Read somewhere it was partly demolished in 2013
Great job! The amount of research and detail that goes into these videos is staggering.
Saw the mets play the Astros in 87 there. We watched the scoreboard and they showed an announcement of a wedding party. My uncle and I told the security guard at the elevator we were with them, he let us go up. We watched the rest of the game right above home plate...whutta view! ⚾
Watched many Astros, Oilers games, rodeos and concerts there. I was at the last Astros game there when ATL beat em. When me and my fiancée were getting up to leave I told her take a good look. This is the last time we'll ever see it. LOTS of memories there!
By far the best video on the Astrodome I have seen on RUclips. A+
There are so many potential uses for the Astrodome. It's a shame that it's just sitting there unused.
It could be a great museum for starters.
I'd like to see it restored to it's original appearance and maybe have the Astros play a few games there every season and wear throwback uniforms as well as their opponents.
I’ve always been fascinated woth the Astrodome. Indycar used to host an event in reliant park, with one of the most exciting corners wrapping around the exterior of the Astrodome. I was fortunate enough to compete in one of the support races, flying past this glorious relic at over 100mph was an incredible experience.
Thanks,Really enjoyed.My dad was a carpenter on the Dome construction and I had a picture of Me at 5 years old ,My dad and his dad standing in the lower field as ground work started. Construction stopped a few times at first and the new roof leak badly the first few years. And Elvis Presley did Three days of Sold out concerts in 1969,Was there. Saw many Rodeos there .In the 1980s you could see a daytime Astros losers game for free,You just had to buy 2 week warm beers.There would be maybe 500 people in the stands. Times change, But the Dome still stands.
Thanks for a great documentary. I was a kid in the 80s and used to marvel at the idea of playing baseball indoors. Back then, it was the only type of domed stadium in the USA.
In addition to the Astros & Oilers, the Astrodome also was home to the Houston Hurricane of the North American Soccer League from 1978-1980. The Hurricane were awful in their first season but quickly rebounded the following two seasons by making the playoffs. However the Hurricane struggled to attract fans to games drawing only an average of 6,000 fans per game & by the end of the 1980 season the owners had enough & folded the team. Prior to the Hurricane, soccer had been played in the Astrodome in the form of the Houston Stars from 1967-1968 who were owned by Roy Hofheinz & played in the short lived United Soccer Association in 1967 before joining the NASL for 1968. Unlike the Hurricane, the Stars had great attendance despite not making the playoffs in either league. However because the NASL lost money in 1968, the majority of owners throughout the league including Roy Hofheinz decided to fold their teams at the end of the season. Lastly the legacies that these two teams left behind in Houston eventually led MLS to relocate the original SJ Earthquakes franchise to Houston in 2005 & rename them the Dynamo where they won two MLS Cups in 2006 & 2007.
I don't know why they didn't want 1994 world cup games there in the Astrodome.
@@hectorlopez1069 probably because of conflicts with the Astros, Miami and Candlestick Park didn’t get games for this exact reason. Thankfully 2026 gave Houston some games.
We had the MINNESOTA KICKS. (Days of Pele')
Who cares
NFL needs to buy it, restore it then host some of the throwback uniform games there! Kinda like what Nascar does with Darlington!
As a kid I must have saved my parents thousands on daycare: They dropped me off at the Astrodome and Astroworld. I was constantly at Astros games or at the park. :)
I also won a radio contest knowing the"official" name of the Astrodome. (Harris county domed stadium) :D lol
Great video. I think a mixed use would be ideal. Maybe something like the Star in Frisco that the Cowboys have. Renovate the playing field, the Texans can use it sometimes for a practice field, local highschools can play some games there 'cause highschool football is in abundance in Texas, and build a new roof between the orange mezanine and rainbow sections and put indoor gardens and shops on top of that. Take the paint off the roof windows to let light in for the plants. Build modern elevator and fire escape ramps where the cylenders were. The Rangers took inspiration from the Astros for their new stadium, the Texans can take some inspiration from the Cowboys and their Star facility to revitalize the Dome.
It’s a broken down dump. No one is going to spend money to redevelop it to do any of this. It’s been two decades of neglect - it’s not coming back.
Great video dude. Just stumbled upon this and was enthralled from the beginning.
my grandfather engineered the track system that the seating configuration rolled on to reconfigure for baseball and football games. i was a lead medic there for 10 years up to the last event. had a lot of fun working them and meeting the stars.
Revisited Houston this summer and saw the Dome on the freeway, it closed before I moved there but at least NRG got the new memories also RIP Astroworld may you come back in the future
Thank you for doing this episode and taking my suggestion. Your videos are always well done! Are you open to any more suggestions?
Amazing video! I have many memories of ASTROS and Oilers games at the dome
I have watched Astros baseball games, Oilers football games, rodeos, monster trucks and motor cross races. Watched Evil Knievel do motorcycle jumps. Been to concerts and attended numerous Offshore Technology Conferences in the old dome. Had lots of good times at AstroWorld with my kids. It’s sad to drive by there now but I guess that is just progress. I wish something could be done with it. 😢
2:31 The Houston Dynamo FC, Houston Rockets, Houston Astros, Houston Texans and Houston Roughnecks win more games including a championship, they would have to choose what to do with The Astrodome
Used to go to the Astrodome with my family in the summers during the 90s to watch the Astros play. There was a certain charm about that place. By then it was a bit dated but the temp was alway chilled inside and there was something special about looking up at the roof and seeing all those lights. Good times….
The oilers played their first game in the astrodome in 1968. Had to pause the video to look it up to make sense of what you were talking about
Outstanding well researched video. It's an impressive structure and has a special place in history like the Empire State Building. Hope it can be preserved.
Thank you! You should consider getting sponsors for your comments since they get so many likes!
@@LaBreeceTV Wow, had no idea that was possible.
I was just thinking the other day about how much I miss that old Light/Score board. Great times at the AstroDome.
Thanks for the presentation. Long time Houston area resident. Loads of memories from the Dome including Astros, Oilers, rodeo, midget races and Oilers homecoming. I will never give up that the dome will come alive again whether for conventions, indoor amusement park it will survive. I am building a mancave and the decor will be the Astrodome. Walls will be images of the stands and scoreboard with the outside walls being images of the dome with Houston skyline in background. Stadium lighting with hanging speakers for big screen on wall with scoreboard backdrop. Thanks again.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was instrumental in the building of the Dome as it had outgrown Sam Houston Coliseum and was seeking new facilities at the time Judge Hofheinz was pitching for baseball. The Astrohall was designed as a livestock pavilion with a show ring at its center, with conventions and the circus the rest of the year, and the Astroarena (NRG Arena) was later added for horse shows. When Reliant Stadium was built, the Astrohall was demolished to make room for parking, and Reliant(NRG) Center was built north of the Dome as a replacement.
My dad had the luxury of getting to be inside of the astrodome. When he was three or four, he said he went with one of his relatives to watch the houston stock show and rodeo in the astrodome. I wish I could've seen the houston rodeo in that magnificent stadium.
It surprises me that they haven't demolished this first ever domed stadium. All the other domes have been demolished.
The Astrodome has a lot of love from many of the locals from Houston. A lot of people from that city and abroad have fond memories of it. In a lot of ways it’s a symbol of the city. It is amazing it’s still standing though.
Love these videos, never stop.
Love to see a video on Freedom Hall in Louisville KY. Nice work!
So many beautiful memories at the astrodome my first NFL football game Houston Oilers vs Cleveland browns various Houston livestock show and rodeos and the most memorable of all the night that the beautiful Texano singer Selena performed her last great concert breaking record of assistance 30 days before she was murdered. The THE ASTRODOME is a very important part of Us Houstonians a very important part of the city of Houston.
Great job beautiful video.
Remember a time
when the only time we watched anything from the Astrodome was NBC telecast of Oilers football 🏈and Atlanta Braves ⚾️television 📺 remember the UCLA-Houston basketball 🏀 game, miss those great times of life….thank you for sharing. Billy
idk if anybody noticed but this is the first episode where i used my new mic setup. Narration quality overall dramaticly increases every episode imo. Still not great, but ive found changing the way i write the script to be the biggest driver of improvement.
Im not even from Texas and i can remember how famous the Houston astrodome was, we had a member of the astros come to my elementary when i was a kid I live in Arizona, and talk to the class about being a professional baseball player, i remember asking him about the astrodome because it was so famous, hard to believe its abandoned.
if you can make a video on the old Carolina coliseum ill be genuinely impressed, there's like nothing on it and I go to it everyday
I can remember going to Baseball games, Football games, the Rodeo, Motocross, tractor pulls, Gun shows, and many different expos there
That was great! I hope it gets to be played in the Astro Dome itself someday
Recall seeing both Houston Colt 45 and Astros games. I smiled when you mentioned mosquitos. They were bigger than any I've ever seen since then. Fond memories of the seeing the rodeos too,
The city of Houston and the State of Texas needs to come together and make the Astrodome one big ass casino. Because people are taking there money to Lake Charles to gamble.
I grew up near Galveston. And my uncle took me to my first MLB game in the dome. In the middle 70’s my sister lived in a apartment complex right across from the dome and we could walk to it for the Kool jazz festival.
And during the summer,Astroworld fired off fireworks every night.
Wow. I’m from near French Lick and been to the Baden. Didn’t know it played in the development of the Astrodome. Cool stuff.
Great content man a lot of great information
Watched a Houston Astros tour on youtube and they workers/staff at that stadium really take pride of their origins and history.
It should become a Ringling Brothers And Barnum & Bailey Circus museum
Bro they should host college games in there and will give chances to kids in universities/colleges to feel how it was to play in it and in the mlb
It needs to become a high-security prison and host gladiator matches. The ticket sales would offset the cost of housing inmates and the deaths would ease prison overcrowding.
The Astrodome holds very good memories for me I went there for the Astros games the rodeo, motocross, concerts all the way from 1989-2004. Also Astroworld before it go demolished. I love the dome pretty much every true Houstonian does and still remembers it in it's glory days.plus my grandpa's construction crew or iron works built the dome. Long live the Astrodome
I know not many will know this but The Old Arena in St Louis. I watched my first hockey game and sesame street on ice. Also, its demise. Fun fact (I didn't know) Bret Hall blew it up with a perfect shot.
Bravo! Bravo! Bellisimo!
I was dying for you to bring up Wrestlemania being there and boom there it was
@LaBreeceTV Would you mind doing a video on the Louisville Gardens, Freedom Hall, Pontiac Silverdome, or Hoosier Dome?
It's time to tear it down once and for all because, in a matter of time, new stadiums will need to be built for the other venues that are there now
Houston needs to renovate the AstroDome like Tacoma Washington did with the Tacoma Dome.
Would be cool to build an indoor zoo with tropical plants and trees with an arctic section, tropical section and forest section.
There was an idea some years ago floating around locally that the Astodome could house the dicommision of NASA's Space Shuttles fleet. To have Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavor and a memorial to Challenger and Columbia all at one location would be incredible!
You can see a lot of the then new Astrodome in the 1970 movie Brewster Macloud.
Also in one of those Bad News Bears sequels
My family & I have lots of memories in the Dome 💕💕💕
Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati was unusual in that part of it was torn down to build Great American Ballpark.
Indoor baseball was played at Convention Hall in Atlantic City by service teams.
Joe D hit one out of there during WWII.
As a child my parents were visiting my dad’s uncle in Texas and he took me my sister and dad to a game in the 66or 67 what a great time and place beat the hell out of watching the Macon Peaches other than seeing Pete Roses as true rookie
Should do a video on the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX
The comparison to the other rescued locations is moot when you consider that the Astro Dome is a sports complex sitting next to it's replacement. There is very little chance that even after renovating and restoring the complex would a team sign on to play there. Why play there when they can play next door?
In my opinion, it should be considered requesting that the Historical status exist for the outside and iconic visual of the building, and research alternative uses for the interior of the building. For example, research the possibilities of building a year round water park along with an inward facing hotel. This would be one of several possible ways to help generate money to save the stadium and make use of the building.
saw the 1981 Houston Supercross there.
So many great building get demolished in this country, they need to save this one! So the original only held what 48,000? So why not try to revert it back to a smaller venue. Have the Astros play a few series here or Spring training games. Recreate the scoreboard as well. Or somehow make it a hockey arena and move the Coyotes to Houston.
It would cost money to get up to date but just turn it into hockey arena. Try to get Arizona Cyotes to move there and maybe the Rockets.
Got to see Pete Rose play there in 1970 when the Reds played the Astros. Right before I was drafted into the army.
Nice job!
Houston & Harris County should have modernized it for the Texans once they started in 2002.
Made no sense building another dome next to the Astrodome then be left looking like idiots for the past 20 years.
Superdome has managed to stick around for 40 years and remains a landmark. How did Houston screw this one up?
Simple make the Astrodome a national park and maybe the Texas sports hall of fame museum and maybe another museum for the Astros and oilers history as well
Really good job on this video
The KINGDOME in SEATTLE is older than the PONTIAC(MICH.) SILVERDOME, right?
@@robertsprouse9282 Think they were about the same, Silverdome opened in 75 and the Kingdome in 76. Construction of the Kingdome started before the Silverdome
Just started the video, commenting for the algorithm
Pretty pretty please could you make a vid on The baker hotel in Mineral Wells Texas?!?! 🥺 I can never find a good video on its history.
I saw Earl Cambell play there in the late 70's
Can someone explain to me why it would be difficult to demolish the Astrodome, even though it's next to the new stadium? I'm from Atlanta and we demolished the old Georgia Dome, even though it was very close to the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Boy, o boy did the city screw that one up. It's almost comical the way things have broken down (literally and figuratively) in the past 20 years.
Make up your mind, Houston. You either should do a complete makeover, and put all your chips in one basket...or turn it into a tourist attraction.
Spending over 2 million per year...for essentially nothing...is laughable.
I loved going there as a kid but I would love to see it taken down
Hey question, what is the music that you use for your videos?
The intro is Wildflower by Monoscape.
What about the one for the Georgia Dome? That song was epic.
@@spencermiller2032 Look up olympic music no copyright
Thanks man. Keep it up. I’ll be supporting your channel
@@spencermiller2032 Appreciate the support. Fun fact about the Georgia Dome video is that the thumbnail is actually a a screenshot of Google street view.
my weird thoughts is thinking this should turn into a track and field stadium and idk why it should 😂
They need to tear down that monstrosity next to the Astro dome
I went to a lot of motorcycle races in there.
Greatest accomplishment in my lifetime was the Bad News Bears sequel. Lol. That was the 70’s as the history is great.
Do the polo grounds or the old Texas Rangers stadium or the old Miami stadium
Rams Owner Stan Kroenke has a apartment in Ball Arena in Denver.
Tear down everything on that property, repave the whole property, build a huge stadium for the Texans that is a larger replica of the Astrodome with an attached convention center (arena), build two large hotel/resorts on the property and build an F1 racetrack around the whole thing. And last but not least, build enough entrances that dont cause constant traffic jams.
there's a Landmark Plaque there so Astrodome is gunna stay there
@@blakedmc1989HD I know that, but it should not stay there at this point and building a stadium for the Texans with Astrodome design would be a good sale
@@eleven8948 dat will not sit well with Texas Historic Commission
Houston Oilers we’re the city’s first Major League Team ! Put some respect on their name bro!!!!!
Let some indoor amusement park rides in there man! On the field area. Make a few slides where the seats were and charge a decent admission. Some income towards the dome is better than none.
1981 Texas World Music Festival (TEXXAS Jam) Featuring the Rocketts, Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, REO Speedwagon and Heart. 1981 Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour, opening with ZZ-Top ! snuck out my window for that one, (sorry Mom).😇
Would love to see the Rolling Stones
The Dome should absolutely be demolished. It’s an eyesore, has zero purpose and there is no need for it in the future. Reimagining it won’t work, restoring it makes no sense so bulldoze the thing into the history books. It’s been almost 25 years since it served any real purpose. Let it go. Also, great vid!!!
try tellin' it to tha National Historical people! as long as they have a say so, tha dome is still gunna be around
A building like the Astrodome should last hundreds of years. Tearing these domes down and building new ones for what, better boxes? Wasteful
They ought to make it available as the biggest soundstage in the world, for movie and tv production.
actually that's been considered, lots of ideas but no money...........
Let’s be clear. The oilers, astros and now Texan have little to no sway over the stadium new and old. The Houston Rodeo is the true boss when it comes to getting what it wants from the county.
Turn it into a museum dedicated to the history of the city of Houston. It can include the sports side, entertainment, city development, everything that makes Houston....Houston?
What also happened to RFK Stadium - apparently abandoned - also there are other Stadiums domed and open air stadiums that have been abandoned - why don't you do your "studies" on those facilities and find out why they were abandoned/left unused. The Highmark Stadium will be demolished when the new Buffalo Bills Stadium is opened and that demolished space will be turned into fan parking.