Saying So Long To The Astrodome

They could have used shovels for the groundbreaking, but this called for Texas flair.

The guests fired Colt .45 pistols into a vacant lot, marking the start of Harris County Domed Stadium, otherwise known as the Astrodome.

The man behind the project, Judge Roy Hofheinz, modestly suggested the stadium be dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World.

That was 34 years and several facelifts ago. Now the Astrodome is losing its oldest tenant.

The Houston Astros next season move to a 42,000-seat downtown ballpark with a retractable roof. The team began its long goodbye Tuesday night, with Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs in town for the 1999 opener.

“It’s sad from one standpoint, but that’s got to be tempered with the excitement of moving into a new facility,” Astros president Tal Smith said. “I think the Astrodome lost a lot of its character when they took down the scoreboard and changed the configuration of the exterior.”

The exodus began in 1997, when the NFL’s Houston Oilers headed to Tennessee even after the $2 million scoreboard was removed to satisfy owner Bud Adams’ demand for more seats.

Next year, the Astros will play on real grass for the first time since the earliest days of the Astrodome, whose opaque center-field glass prompted the invention of Astroturf.

The new home will be ready for opening day in 2000. Left behind will be the building where the Astros won division titles the last two seasons.

They also were six outs from the World Series against Philadelphia in 1980 and lost to the New York Mets in the 1986 playoffs.

Before the air-conditioned Astrodome, fans had to tolerate the mosquitoes and sapping heat of Colt Stadium. Now it’s back to the elements again, with the option of closing the roof in unacceptable weather. In Houston, that could mean most of July, August and September.

The first major league game at the Astrodome was April 9, 1965--Astros vs. Yankees.

“Mickey Mantle was the first batter and they told him to take the first pitch so they could keep the ball,” recalled Ron Brand, then the Houston catcher. “Mantle said ‘I’m too nervous to swing anyway.’ I couldn’t believe he would be nervous but it really was an exciting time.”

The Astrodome cost $31.5 million, a figure that couldn’t meet some salary demands today. The Ballpark at Union Station, the downtown stadium’s working title, will cost $265 million.

Smith was the Astros’ liaison during construction of the Astrodome, which opened the era of modern stadium design. He’s also in charge of this move.

“It doesn’t seem like 35 years ago, but it was one of the most impressionable events in my life that I had the chance to be associated with it,” Smith said. “I was with that project from the time it was a hole in the ground until completion.”

The Astrodome’s future depends on Houston businessman Bob McNair’s efforts to land a franchise to replace the Oilers.

McNair has approval for a new football stadium on the same property. If he gets a team, most of the events previously held in the Astrodome will move to the new facility.

That would relegate the Astrodome to conventions and trade shows. If McNair is unsuccessful, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo would consider renovating the Astrodome.

Until Mark McGwire’s assault on the home run record, ex-Astros Jimmy Wynn and Doug Rader had the longest upper-deck shots at the Astrodome. When the stadium was renovated, Wynn got the original seat marking his home run. He now has it in his home.

“I knew it was going out, I just didn’t know how far until I got back to the dugout,” Wynn said. “My teammates pointed to exactly where it hit and I just stood there a few seconds and said, ‘Wow.”’