A lucky 25,000 people Monday night will get to party one last time at the Eighth Wonder of the World before the Astrodome is repurposed into a parking garage and event center.
There are no more free tickets to what's being billed as a "Domecoming," a final sendoff officials hope is as grand as the stadium's opening exactly 53 years ago.
“The original Astronuts will be out roving around and playing music, we'll have food trucks, retail vendors selling Astrodome merchandise and a few keepsakes,” says Beth Wiedower Jackson with the Astrodome Conservancy, which is helping maintain the Dome for future generations.
“This will really be a final glimpse of the Dome before construction starts later this year, prepping it for the next phase of life,” she says.
Harris County commissioners this year approved $105 million to transform the stadium into a new event center, including raising the floor to provide 1,400 indoor parking spaces. The move comes nearly five years after voters rejected a $217 million bond issue which would have turned the Astrodome into a convention center.
“The county has voted to appropriate the funds to renovate, restore and repurpose the Astrodome, and it is protected at the state level with the State Antiquities Landmark designation,” says Wiedower Jackson.
Gates open at 4 pm at NRG Park. Ticketholders can get inside the Astrodome at 5 pm. The party ends at 8pm.