Convert, renovate or demolish – Either way, taxpayers will foot the bill.
Following the recent implosion of the Texas Stadium and the planned demolition of the Houston Astrodome, it appears that the great state of Texas has declared a moratorium on sporting stadia. Or has it?
No sooner had news of the planned demolition of the former home of the Houston Oilers hit the streets than two further options were thrown into the ring. The first is to convert and renovate the structure into a science and convention centre at a cost of around $588 million; the second is to simply convert it in a more basic fashion, reducing the bill to around $350 million. The third option is an outright demolition, the cost of which is estimated at $128 million.
Regardless of the outcome, it seems likely that taxpayers will be left to foot the bill. All the above options’ costs include the $40M which originated from a bond passed to make renovations while the Oilers still made use of the facility. Reliant officials say just removing the dome and replacing it with a simple field would still cost about $88M.
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