Tag Archives: Texas Historical Commission

Funding Model Emerges For the Astrodome

If there’s one thing Harris County voters made clear in 2013, it was this… we don’t want to spend public money to save the Astrodome.  And of course “we” meaning a clear majority of Harris County voters who bothered to show up for the 2013 elections.

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While many around town saw the election result as a clear mandate to tear down the historic structure, at least one person was not ready to throw in the towel.  Thankfully for Houston and Texas, that one person is Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.  After spending months to develop a bold vision for the nearly doomed Dome’s future, the Judge and Harris County Commissioner’s Court are now ready to reveal the most critical part of the plan… funding.

Here’s the report from Gabrielle Banks of the Houston Chronicle

A few months ago Ed Emmett had a breakthrough moment about how to save the Astrodome, a goal he’s been chipping away at for the better part of eight years. The Harris County judge was driving out of the county administration building lot headed straight for the historic 1910 courthouse in downtown, and he thought, “There’s a building we completely re-purposed without bond money.”

Meanwhile, the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation was mulling over a 38-page report by the Urban Land Institute outlining details for transforming the Astrodome into an indoor park with 1,200 parking spaces underneath it. What remained unclear was how to fund it.

And that’s where Emmett’s idea comes in. His plan has now become the blueprint for a public-private partnership overseen by a conservancy that would unite the city, county, the sports and convention corporation and other governmental entities with private investors to revive the Astrodome without requiring voter approval. Under the conservancy model, Emmett said, the Dome would earn tax credits, which would help significantly with covering expenses for renovation.

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(original photo credit:  the Texas Historical Commission)

So when exactly will the ‘Astrodome Park Conservancy’ or whatever it is to be called come to fruition?  No one is quite sure, but Commissioner’s Court is set to outline more details this week, and hopes to have a firm plan in place by the end of this year.

If this was to ultimately be the venue for saving the Dome, one wonders why we even attempted the “public money” route in the first place.  Maybe Harris County wanted to have more control over the redevelopment process?  But in any case, this is where we are in 2015, and this blogger is thankful that there may finally be a definitive path forward.

Beyond flagship investors like the big corporations one would expect to lead these efforts, let’s hope the Conservancy is also open to some small donation funding models (i.e. “buy a brick” investment).  They may not raise the big bucks, but they do tend to encourage participation from the public, foster promotion and tourism of the site and serve as an educational tool teach the importance of historic preservation.

Looking forward to more details on this, and it’s great to see a funding model finally materialize.  After 50 years of extraordinary history, the world’s first ever domed stadium may still have a bright future ahead.

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Here’s hoping.

 

Why We Celebrate Juneteenth

As people living in the age of instant information, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine the significance of Juneteenth today. Any news out of Washington DC is known across the country instantaneously. But for Americans in the 19th Century, news only traveled as fast as human hands could carry it, especially to areas of the country that were far removed from the East Coast. The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect at the height of the Civil War… January 1st, 1863. But that news took some two and a half years to reach the entire country.  From the Texas State Historical Association, here’s a brief history of Juneteenth

 On June 19 (“Juneteenth”), 1865, Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, which read in part, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.” The tidings of freedom reached the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas gradually as individual plantation owners informed their bondsmen over the months following the end of the war. The news elicited an array of personal celebrations, some of which have been described in The Slave Narratives of Texas (1974). The first broader celebrations of Juneteenth were used as political rallies and to teach freed African American about their voting rights. Within a short time, however, Juneteenth was marked by festivities throughout the state, some of which were organized by official Juneteenth committees.
Today, Juneteenth is much more than political rallies. Communities across the country commemorate the day through concerts, parades, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation and lectures. And in Galveston, Juneteenth has grown into a week-long festival, with events at the original site of Ashton Villa. This year marks the 148th anniversary of the event.
As Americans in the 21st century continue struggle to find their way towards greater equality and freedom, the event of Juneteenth serves as a shining beacon from our nation’s past.  In a world of great suffering and sacrifice, the Emancipation Proclamation was a huge advance in progress.  And indeed, it was a reason to celebrate that which all Americans hold most dear today… Freedom.
Happy Juneteenth to all.