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Now filled with nothing but cobwebs, the Houston Astrodome was once considered a palace for football and baseball fans. Less well known was the palace that the Dome's visionary Roy Hofheinz built for himself inside the Eighth Wonder of the World. Time Life photos show the apartment's whimsical style, highlighted by red carpet that coved the floor and walls of a conference room, which also featured zebra-print chairs and chalices in front of each seat. Psychedelic wallpaper covered the salon, while Asian dragon statues flanked the massive desk in Hofheinz' office. The apartment also featured a putting green, a shooting...

When it comes to the fate of the iconic but now shuttered and dilapidated Houston Astrodome, take your pick from a variety of sports clichés to describe the stadium’s dire situation. The bottom of the ninth and down to the last out. On the ropes. A must-win ballgame. A last-ditch effort has been organized to save the dome, with local and national preservation groups and a new political action committee banding together to come up with a solution for the stadium that involves rebirth and not razing the structure. …

HOUSTON -- Behold what has become of the eighth wonder of the world. The Astrodome sits dark, dusty, dilapidated and haunted by Houston’s history. Giant signs touting bearing outdated logos for corporate sponsors like Continental Airlines hang over orange seats with ripped cushions. Skyboxes are furnished with outdated furniture and old Zenith television sets. Astroturf sits carelessly tossed on the stadium floor, folded over like discarded carpet left behind in an abandoned home. “What do I see?” said Edgar Colon, chairman of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., as he looked around the empty stadium. “I see a lot...

For the better part of three decades, Paul Darst's daily job was to preside over the bells, whistles, snorting bulls and blazing six-shooters that roamed the original Astrodome scoreboard and, later, the video boards that ringed the stadium in the late 1980s and 1990s. Darst now works next door as Reliant Stadium's technology wizard, and his duties rarely require him to walk to the Dome, whose floor now is ringed with risers, chairs and boxes of spare parts for its newer, more glamorous neighbor.But then there are days like Monday, when Darst boarded a bus and traveled through the big...

A company's bid to reinvent the Astrodome as a convention hotel suffered a major setback Wednesday when a county board refused to give it more time to negotiate a lease and finalize a loan. Entrepreneurs from Astrodome Redevelopment Co., aiming to transform the building once known as the Eighth Wonder of the World into a 1,300-room, $450 million hotel, say their quest isn't over. But the decision made Wednesday by the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp.'s board drops the development company's exclusive right to strike a deal, allowing the county to entertain other proposals to find a second life...

Reporter apparently sought critical remarks after speechAn ABC News reporter who apparently expected hurricane evacuees to criticize the president after his speech last night, instead heard words of praise for Bush and blame for local officials. Dean Reynolds, in the parking lot of Houston's Astrodome, spoke with black evacuees from New Orleans, but "not one of the six people interviewed on camera had a bad word for Bush – despite Reynolds' best efforts," said the Media Research Center in a report on the segment. "You talk about a major big media backfire, folks, this is it," commented radio talk host...

Hello Everyone, Having had personal experience as a volunteer at one of the Astrodome complexes and other areas, I am disappointed, upset and somewhat angered by several comments made by national figures, including a Congressman and Jesse Jackson, equating the shelters, including the Astrodome, to slave cargo ships coming from Africa to the U.S. . . one comment was that evacuees at the Astrodome were being treated like slaves. Nothing could be farther from the truth. On Saturday morning from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Astro Arena and other complexes in the Astrodome area, evacuees were served breakfast...

In another development here in Texas, the Mexican army is crossing the border to bring help to New Orleans and its stranded citizens. This is the first time Mexican military troops have crossed into Texas since 1846, during the war between the United States and Mexico that resulted in Mexico losing the vast area now known as the American southwest. The Mexican soldiers will not be armed and the 35 trucks in the convoy will be loaded with blankets, water, food and mobile kitchens. Mexican President Vicente Fox brushed aside complaints from some opponents who said he should have sought...

According to CNN....going to be more where that came from

I spent my Labor Day at the Reliant complex. I spent time in all three shelters (Astrodome, Reliant Center, Reliant Arena) and most of what I witnessed is impossible to describe...at least with the limited writing skills I possess. Here are a few observations I am able to express; the rest remain my own. The Good:The number of volunteers When I arrived (and finally figured out where to go), my orientation class of volunteers was between 200 and 300 people. At the same time as our class, the staging area was filled with roughly 500 people receiving job assignments. I...

Displaced survivors in the Houston Astrodome can choose from counterfeit and abandoned clothing, toys and even dog food.

(Washington, D.C.) - The Muslim American Society (MAS) and its Freedom Foundation, and Islamic Relief USA, will hold a press conference on Friday, September 2 at 3:00 p.m. in front of the Holiday Inn across from the Houston Astrodome to announce ongoing relief efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. MAS, America's largest grassroots Muslim organization with over fifty chapters, including those in Houston, Dallas and New Orleans, has teamed up with Islamic Relief USA, a U.N. NGO and member of the U.N. Economic and Social Council, with its offices in 30 countries. MAS and its Freedom Foundation will announce...

The linked article concerns the reports of refugee crime in New Orleans. I had supposed that would cease when the refugees were brought out and put in proper shelters. Silly me. My daughter and her husband live essentially across the street from the Astrodome. She says the police sirens are virtually constant. I have heard from a Dallas policeman of the strain on Dallas police resources created by the refugees sent there. He spoke of riot conditions. It is my understanding we have received several thousand refugees here in San Antonio, but they are being placed in the Joe and...

HOUSTON — With more than 220,000 hurricane refugees camped out in Texas and more coming, Gov. Rick Perry warned today that his enormous state was running out of room. "Texas is committed to doing everything it can to help our neighbors from Louisiana, but we want to make certain that we can provide them with the medical care, food, shelter, safety, education and other services they need to start getting their lives back together," Perry said in a statement. "Local officials are beginning to notify us that they are quickly approaching capacity in the number of evacuees they believe they...

HOUSTON -- NEWSCHANNEL 5 crews were in Houston as some desperate refugees arrived in a stolen bus. HOUSTON -- Thousands of refugees of Hurricane Katrina were transported to the Astrodome in Houston this week. In an extreme act of looting, one group actually stole a bus to escape ravaged areas in Louisiana. About 100 people packed into the stolen bus. They were the first to enter the Houston Astrodome, but they weren't exactly welcomed. The big yellow school bus wasn't expected or approved to pass through the stadium's gates. Randy Nathan, who was on the bus, said they were desperate...

A massive interfaith effort is under way to feed Hurricane Katrina evacuees at large-scale shelters in Houston, including the George R. Brown Convention Center. The plan is not final. But organizers expect religious groups to raise an initial $4.4 million for 30 days of food and to supply 720 volunteers a day to provide and serve three hot meals to many thousands seeking shelter in Houston. "I do not view this as a faith community issue," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, which will participate in the effort and other relief projects. "This is...

The Gideons International are sending 40,000 Personal Witnessing Testaments (New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs) to be distributed at the Astrodome and other relief centers in Houston. My camp in Clear Lake is the focal point for organizing Gideon volunteers to help with the distribution. We are doing this in cooperation with the Salvation Army. If you are a Gideon, or a minister, and would like to help the Salvation Army and Gideons minister to the people and distribute the New Testaments please freep mail me your name and phone number and either myself, the Salvation Army or a Gideon organizer will...

Just heard through the grapevine that FEMA has appropriated all police and private security personnel in Houston to aid with the influx of refugees. All vacations cancelled..events requiring private security or off-duty police are likewise being cancelled.This is not verified. Any confirmation?

This is a post from another board regarding a conversation with a red cross vol. who is inside the Astrodome. I am posting this in toto, but I ask you to ignore the political comments, and focus on the facts....and the problems that we are now facing. 10,000 here… more on the way, where are these people going to go? No space. I don’t know what they are going to do, might open more shelters. New shelters are opening all the way north into KY. AR/MO and other states will open shelters in the coming time. I would estimate over...