![houston cougars new stadium design houston cougars new stadium design](http://baylorlariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Stadium-Doubletruck-FTW.jpg)
He was told that on exceedingly hot days, a massive cover was pulled over that venue to shade the spectators. Hofheinz was inspired to build the Astrodome after he visited Rome’s Colosseum while serving as mayor of Houston. Praeger-Kavanagh-Waterbury, New York-based architects and engineers, were retained as consultants for the project. Lott, Inc., a Houston firm, and Minneapolis-based Johnson, Drake, & Piper were general contractors. Moore and Associates were the structural engineers, who came under the supervision of Kenneth Zimmerman. Morris, Ralph Anderson, and Robert Minchew provided much of the leadership in that area.
![houston cougars new stadium design houston cougars new stadium design](https://www.collegegridirons.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/tdecu17950.jpg)
The firm of Lloyd & Morgan teamed up with Wilson, Morris, Crane & Anderson to serve as architects.
![houston cougars new stadium design houston cougars new stadium design](https://s.hdnux.com/photos/13/50/60/3050529/5/rawImage.jpg)
The project was sufficiently ambitious that it required numerous experts to be built. However, the engineers and architects were confident in their ability to follow through on a previously untested concept. When it was built, the feasibility of a huge indoor sports facility was not fully certain. Preservationist Cynthia Neely asserts that the Astrodome “created a whole new style of architecture … made a lot of other famous buildings possible.” 2 Roy Hofheinz, a hard-charging entrepreneur who served as Houston’s mayor and as Harris County judge (the county’s chief administrator), supervised the construction. The design is an example of late modernist architecture, and the first truly massive domed structure not supported by internal columns. Although it remained in place as of 2016, it was unused and in danger of demolition. Before two newer sports venues replaced the Astrodome it had hosted baseball, football, boxing, basketball, soccer, trade shows, conventions, religious events, livestock shows, rodeos, concerts, political events, and a long list of other activities. 1 It was sufficiently unique that it was commonly referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”Īs such, the Astrodome inspired similar indoor facilities, including the Louisiana Superdome, which, paradoxically, helped contribute to its eventual obsolescence and demise. The Astrodome’s amenities were so diverse that comedian Bob Hope joked, “If they had a maternity ward and a cemetery, you would never have to leave.” The structure was so impressive that it prompted visits from celebrities and dignitaries alike. Luxury skyboxes, themed restaurants, a video scoreboard, a barbershop, a bowling alley, a weather station, and numerous other unique features were woven into the venue. It was unlike any venue before it, as it reveled in luxury, with padded theater-style seating throughout and an array of posh amenities designed as part of its construction. Unlike previous sports venues, the Astrodome was built to be a massive all-purpose, climate-controlled facility that would serve as an entertainment complex for a broad variety of events and activities. It was formally unveiled in an exhibition game that pitted the Houston Astros against the American League champion New York Yankees on April 9, 1965. The Houston Astrodome was the first fully enclosed, air-conditioned major-league ballpark.