While it may seem like a dump now, as a kid I can remember it being called the "Eighth Wonder of the World". And nobody laughed. Yeah, that was a looong time ago. But people used to pay just to tour the stadium.
I seriously doubt this happens. No way the Rodeo and Texans give up their rights without financial benefit.
Heck I'm 22 and I wish the Astros would move back to the dome. Some of my best memories of my childhood are staying at the Holiday Inn Astrodome, going to a weekend series at the Dome and spending a day at Astroworld. Good times.
It would be an awesome casino. Too bad our state government would rather everyone drive to Louisiana.
A hotel in the Astrodome would have an impact on parking among other things during events. I will try to find the article outlining all of that but it has been months since I saw it.
Ok, I found some information for you as to why the rodeo and Texans would oppose this particular idea. The entire article is available here: Why the Rodeo Opposes The Texans and Rodeo have a very legitimate argument against THIS PARTICULAR plan because of the scope of it. It is a direct violation of their lease. Here are a couple of tidbits:
Plus, if the ARC defaulted on the loan, a group out of New York City would then own the Dome. It is not a feasible idea. Plus, Houston has had bad history with some of its recent city backed hotels and loan payments. As for the greed of a few: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will give out over 520 $15,000.00 scholarships to youth from houston and around the state this year. This is all supported by the Rodeo and Livestock auction. Currently the Rodeo has youth on 4 year scholarships at over 100 colleges and Universities across the state of Texas. Yeah, having the largest privately supported scholarship program in the Country sound like greed to me.....
That's easy enough to solve in a couple of ways. 1) When the Rodeo's there, close up the inside stores, clubs, and entertainment, and leave only the hotel open. Allow the stores to open up booths in the fair to recoup some of the costs. I know there's plenty of Rodeo goers who would love to have a hotel right there to stumble to at the end of the night. or 2) Let the Rodeo get a cut of the stores' take when the rodeo's in town. Put it in the stores' leases from the start so they won't be able to complain. Keep the inside amusements closed.
