The 8th Wonder Of The World

Today is going to be full day to enjoy Houston Texas. It has been a very good day. The weather cooled off. But the excitement for my vacation is starting to really find it's best stride.

My main project today was to try and purchase a good used bike. Which I did accomplish at a very good pawn shop that I found. $60 was the price I paid. Which is a good deal considering it gets to be quite expensive to rent. Also bringing down my folding Dahon bike was not a feasible option on this trip.

I did get to see quite a bit of downtown Houston today. The area that I am staying in is called the "Museum District" It is a very nice residential area. I am glad I made the decision to stay in the hostel that is located here.

One of the main tourist sites for me to see was "The Houston Astrodome". When the first domed sports stadium was built in 1965. It was considered the 8th wonder of the world. Sadly now it just sites as a forgotten friend of the past. Very similar to our "Maple Leaf Gardens". Two historic building with a lot of history. Yet there is no future for these classic sports venues from the past.

Here is a little interesting history of the famous Astrodome.

When the Astrodome opened on April 9, 1965, it used a natural 419 Bermuda grass playing surface specifically bred for indoor use. The dome's ceiling contained numerous semitransparent panes made of Lucite. Players quickly complained that glare coming off of the panes made it impossible for them to track fly balls. Two sections of panes were painted white, which solved the glare problem but caused the grass to die from lack of sunlight. Judy Garland and The Supremes performed on opening night to a capacity crowd. For most of the 1965 season, the Astros played on green-painted dirt and dead grass. As the 1966 season approached, there was the possibility of the team playing on an all dirt infield.

The solution was to install a new type of artificial grass on the field, ChemGrass, which became known as AstroTurf. Because the supply of AstroTurf was still low, only a limited amount was available for the home opener on April 18, 1966. There wasn't enough for the entire outfield, but there was enough to cover the traditional grass portion of the infield. The outfield remained painted dirt until after the All-Star Break. The team was sent on an extended road trip before the break, and on July 19, 1966, the installation of the outfield portion of AstroTurf was completed and ready for play. Groundskeepers dressed as astronauts kept the turf clean with vacuum cleaners between innings. The infield dirt remained in the traditional design, with a large dirt arc, similar to natural grass fields. Hofheinz reportedly wasn't too concerned with the death of the grass, since the ambitious schedule he'd planned for the Astrodome required a more durable surface.

The 4 pictures posted are; a rare picture of the famous "Astrodome Astrolite", two pictures I took of the Astodome today, and a pictures of the skylites from the inside.

Here is the history on the Astrolite.
The Houston Astrodome was well-renowned for a four-story scoreboard called the "Astrolite", composed of thousands of light bulbs that featured numerous comical animations. After every Astros home run, the scoreboard would feature a minute-long animated celebration of pistols, bulls, and fireworks. The scoreboard remained intact until 1988 when Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams supported by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, threatened to move the franchise to Jacksonville, Florida unless stadium seating capacity was expanded to accommodate capacity demands for football. (Jacksonville won an NFL expansion franchise in 1995, and Adams eventually moved the team to Tennessee.) The city buckled to his demands, and Harris County spent $67 million of public funds on renovations.[5] The scoreboard was removed and approximately 15,000 new seats resembling the 1970s Rainbow Guts uniform pattern were installed to bring seating capacity to almost 60,000 for football. On September 5, 1988, a final celebration commemorating the scoreboard occurred prior to expansion renovations. In 1989, four cylindrical pedestrian ramp columns were constructed outside the Dome.

To view some great video and memories from the "Astrolite" follow this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzKpQyOR03Q