When people think of the state of Texas in terms of sports, they would think of it primarily as a football state. To an extent, they would be correct. However, in the city of Houston, Texas, it is known first as a baseball city run by the Astros. Many people do not know how the Houston Astros started. Outsiders would tell you that they have always played at what is currently known as Minute Maid Park. But that’s not the case.
Before they were known as the Astros, they were known as the Houston Colt 45’s, the first baseball team here in the city. From 1962 to 1964, they played ball and tried to gain traction as the newest team in Major League Baseball at a temporary stadium known as Colt Stadium. The stadium however was known for having metal seats that became scalding hot in the Texas sun and for being a huge attraction for Mosquitos during humid Texas summers. Things were going to have to change.
The person who brought the idea of Houston having its first major league baseball team was Judge Roy Hofheinz, a county judge of Harris County, Texas and the Mayor of Houston. Judge Hofheinz used to take trips all around the world. One day while visiting the Rome Colosseum with his daughter in Italy, she gave him the idea of playing “indoor baseball”. That small thought she gave him made Judge Hofheinz want to make that dream into reality.
Hofheinz decided to create the world’s first domed air-conditioned indoor stadium. Nobody thought he would pull it off but in Texas, you buck up or shut up. He had architects such as Herman Lloyd, WB Morgan, and Morris architects help put his plan into action. Construction on the “Eighth Wonder of the World” began in 1962.
1965 would prove to be a year of change. The Colt 45’s were forced to change their name due to naming rights with the Colt gun manufacturers. Houston has always been famous because of NASA, so naturally, the team officially changed their name to the Astros, short for astronauts. Hofheinz decided he was going to move the team into his new indoor stadium. Thus, the Houston Astrodome was born as the “Eighth Wonder of the World” officially opened its doors in 1965.
I mentioned before that the Astrodome was the world’s first indoor, air-conditioned domed stadium. But that’s not all. The Astrodome is also famous for being the first stadium to introduce Astroturf, a new type of playing surface that would eventually replace grass in most stadiums. At the time it was built, the dome could hold 42,000 people in seats and could also house a football team as well as the Astros. Enter, the Houston Oilers, one of the newer teams in the NFL. The Houston Astrodome officially opened on April 9th, 1965, for the first exhibition game between the Astros and the New York Yankees. The Oilers would begin playing in the dome in 1968.
This type of stadium was something that no one had ever seen before. The Astrodome was also where the idea of “suites” in the very top of the dome came to be. Judge Hofheinz created what was called “Luxury Sky Boxes”, a total of 53 luxury box suites and 5 different restaurants in that area. The 42,000 seats inside of the dome were all built with super comfortable cushion seating, something other stadiums hadn’t done. Something else that no stadium had ever done was the idea of Astroturf as I mentioned before.
When the stadium first opened in 1965, real grass was used. However, this led to a problem. Originally, the stadium was built using glass panels on the roof in order to let the sun shine in and help the grass on the field grow. Astros players however complained about not being able to see the baseballs because of the sun shining through. The first idea that the Astrodome went with was using different colored baseballs. It didn’t work. The next idea was to paint the glass panels black. That worked for the players, but the grass began to die. So now what? Hofheinz had heard about an artificial turf that was used on a high school football field developed by a company known as Monsanto. The artificial turf was a synthetic type of grass as opposed to the natural grass that was normally used. Monsanto worked with Hofheinz to be able to put this turf in the Astrodome, thus, Astroturf was born.
In the following years The Astrodome was not just the home of the Astros and the Oilers anymore. It became the third most visited attraction in America due to the fact that this was something that people had never seen before in the late 1960’s when it first opened. It truly earned its nickname of the “Eight Wonder of the World”.
By 1989, to keep up with the Disabilities Act and to be able to meet the needs of the Houston Oilers, they closed for renovations. The capacity in seats was upped to 55,000 seats and this allowed it to host way more events than just baseball and football games. Over its lifetime, The Astrodome held events such as the 1992 Republican National Convention, WrestleMania X7 and it was even used as a refugee center for the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2006.
It also held the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and countless concerts with artists such as Elvis Presley, The Jackson Five and George Strait. The Astrodome is also the stadium where Selena Quintanilla held her last concert one month before she tragically passed away. But unfortunately, like all good things, the good times would come to an end.
By the time the 1990’s came around, the Houston Oilers decided it was time for a brand-new stadium for themselves. The Astrodome was becoming outdated and worn down and the team wanted out. The city of Houston rejected plans for the Oilers to have a new stadium, so Owner Bud Adams took the team to Nashville, Tennessee. That left just the Astros who were also looking for a new stadium. The city approved a new venue for the Astros, and they played their final game in the Astrodome on October 9th, 1999.
When the 2000’s came around, the Astrodome wasn’t having many big events anymore. It became even more of a sign that its time was done when the NFL awarded an expansion franchise known as the Houston Texans. But instead of the Astrodome, the city decided to build a brand new $350 million stadium, known as Reliant Stadium (now known as NRG). The stadium held 71,000 people and opened in 2002. With Reliant Stadium being right next to the Astrodome the city of Houston decided to build more parking lots right next to it. Reliant started hosting the big events that the Astrodome once did, including the famous Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.
By 2004, the Astrodome was falling apart, not bringing in enough revenue, and it was getting more and more expensive in terms of upkeep. In 2008 the city of Houston closed the astrodome until further notice due to many various health and safety code violations and for it being just an unsafe building by this time. To repair everything inside the dome it was going to be an estimate of around $30 million to get it back to where it once was If the city decided to tear down the dome, it would cost $25 million (this was due to the fact that you can’t implode a structure if it has to close a proximity to another structure). The city had ideas of being able to turn the Astrodome into a park, a hotel or a Convention Center. Unfortunately, each idea fell through.
Officially, in 2017 the Texas Historical Commission decided to name the Astrodome as a historical structure. With the stadium now being a national landmark, it can’t be demolished unless authorized from the Commission. Many Houstonians were very grateful for this as many have a special connection to the dome and they understand its importance to the city of Houston. As of today in 2024, there has not been any updates about restoring the Astrodome and it still currently sits right next to NRG Stadium as a national landmark. It will sit there as a memory to all that this historic domed stadium was truly the Eighth Wonder of the World.
