"I envision a gateway to the future of NRG Park," native Houstonian Mike Acosta told ABC13 on Wednesday. "A multi-faceted entertainment village."
Early in 2023, Acosta began the formal process of putting together a plan to revitalize the Astrodome - a building he says remains structurally sound. In light of recent statements by local officials, many made to ABC13, he's ready to match those comments with concepts.
"My goal is to bring a vision," Acosta revealed. "Let's not talk about what is difficult - that's not what Houston is. Houston is about getting things done."
What Acosta, along with three partners - all with connections to the Dome, wants to get done through an LLC called Astrodome reIMAGINEd, is use private funds to develop the Dome into a publicly-accessible, revenue-generating destination to work with NRG Park's primary tenants.
"Creating an extension, another unit that works seamlessly with what the Houston Rodeo and the Texans do there," Acosta said of the longstanding tenants of NRG Park. "Where you can watch the game that's going on next door, you can dine at a brewery, you can go to a concession stand, you can buy Astrodome, Houston Texans, and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo retail products in there. You can run around on the field of the Astrodome, which is set up with multiple football fields of different sizes. All this project has been done architecturally feasible."
Acosta says it's time to reimagine our city's timeless structure.
"The last public events in the Dome were 15 years ago, almost," Acosta noted. "The Astrodome was built to last. It was over-engineered. But you can't just leave it sitting there."
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