When Houston’s Astrodome opened in 1965 as the world’s first domed sports stadium it was called ‘The Eighth Wonder of the World.’ Except for its use in September 2005 as a shelter for thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans, the Astrodome has been empty and rusting away since 1999 when the Houston Astros baseball team left for a new stadium.
The Kingdome in Seattle and the RCA Dome in Indianapolis were demolished after their sports team tenants vacated the premises for new facilities. But in Houston a large number of idiots, citizens and politicians alike, demand that the unused Astrodome be kept around for nostalgic reasons. Numerous studies have been carried out over the years and several pie-in-the-sky 'do-over' proposals have been put forth, all to no avail, while the Astrodome, believe it or not, is still being paid off and several million dollars are spent each year just to keep the damn doomed stadium from falling down.
HARRIS COUNTY, OTHERS, COMMISSION $500K “STUDY” ON WHAT TO DO WITH THE ASTRODOME
by Kevin Whited
blog HOUSTON.net
June 26, 2011
"We have to make a decision" on the Dome, County Judge Ed Emmett said. "I wanted us to make our decision this year. They're going to look at every option there is and come back with the recommendation. It's about time we do that."
The county will contribute $50,000 toward a $500,000 study, bringing to $100,000 the total the county has spent in the past two years studying what to do with the aging Houston icon.
The remaining $450,000 for the latest study will be funded by the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Houston Texans, Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and Aramark Corp.
It's been obvious for years that it's time to demolish the Astrodome (which continues to cost us several millions dollars every year the decrepit building is standing). We've heard fantastic tales that it will be profitably converted to everything from a convention center hotel to movie studios to a planetarium. There has been nearly no limit to the absurdity of the proposed boondoggles -- none of which have come to fruition (or will come to fruition without the commitment of taxpayer millions).
Astute Dem consultant Marc Campos wrote this about the $500,000 study: "If it truly is an honest assessment, then tearing down the Dome will be the most likely option so stay tuned!"
The problem is, it will not be an honest assessment. You (you being government, and other interested parties) don't spend $500,000 on a study to tell you what is obvious. You spend $500,000 to tell you how to sell a boondoggle to a skeptical public. We fully expect the cost of demolishing the Astrodome to be exaggerated, and the boondoggle options to be heavily promoted in the final report.
So BH will offer this friendly wager to Campos -- we'll bet a nice lunch at the restaurant of your choice that the "best" option in the final report will not be tearing down the Dome.
No comments:
Post a Comment