Otherwise, the demo experts say the estimate is far too high.

As to alternative uses, the County is really cagey about the answers, but I have seen numbers for some allternatives guessed at 500 MM$. If that is the case, they will tear it down. Houston/Harris County have invested in venues for baseball, football, basketball and soccer recently; as well as a major downtown upgrade. I don’t see people being excited with another large investment.

The ownership change out here in LA has begun to focus discussion on the future of Dodger Stadium, which is 3 years older than the dome…..Interestingly, there is some sentiment that the land is too valuable for a ballpark….that they should build a new stadium downtown, tear down Dodger stadium and build high- end condos and shopping malls up there…..

Houston (or Harris County, whomever actually owns the building) can’t just let it rot and collapse. So they either have to pay to maintain the building at a minimum level or pay to demolish it.

Right now, my guess is that the cost of the demolition and replacement is not worth it to them. If that cost is $88 million as suggested and the maintenance cost is $3 million, they can go for almost 30 years before it becomes less cost-effective to maintain then demolish.

Of course, if demolition costs go down, or maintenance costs go up (which they will), or the city can come up with a replacement for the site that provides value, that might change.

- Peter Angelos

Better still, find a way to generate revenue out of it and put the proceeds into a fund to eventually demolish the place.

How much would it cost to simply fix it up, remove the asbestos and make it something else?

FYI, it was a major staging point for evacuees from New Orleans ( 300 miles away) during Hurricane Rita. So it has done a few useful things in its post-baseball life. But it’s pretty sad to see it just sitting there.

I attended the first fame at the stadium in 1965, and had always hoped they would come up with some use to maintain it. But at this point, we are just watching it rust away. Probably better to stop the 3 MM$ or so annual maintenance and find some better use for the space.