Information AboutAstrodome |
Reliant Astrodome, previously known as the '''Houston Astrodome''' or simply the '''Astrodome''', is a Domed sports Stadium , the first of its kind, located in Houston, Texas . The stadium is part of the Reliant Park complex. It opened in 1965 as '''Harris County Domed Stadium''' and was nicknamed the " Eighth Wonder Of The World ". Barks, Joseph V. " Powering the (new and improved) 'Eighth Wonder of the World' ", Electrical Apparatus, November 2001. Retrieved 2007-01-16 . HISTORY Major League Baseball expanded to Houston in 1962 with the Houston Colt .45s , who were later renamed the Astros . Houston's unpredictable subtropical weather made outdoor Baseball difficult for players and spectators alike. Several baseball franchises had toyed with the idea of building enclosed, Air-conditioned stadiums. Former Houston mayor Judge Roy Hofheinz claimed inspiration for what would eventually become the Astrodome when he was on a tour of Rome , where he learned that the builders of the ancient Colosseum installed giant Velaria to shield spectators from the Roman sun. The world's first domed stadium was conceived by Hofheinz, and designed by architects Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan, and Wislon, Morris, Crain and Anderson. Structural engineering and structural design was performed by Walter P Moore Engineers and Consultants of Houston. It was constructed by H.A. Lott, Inc. for Harris County, Texas . It stands 18 stories tall, covering 9½ acres. The dome is 710 feet (216.4 m) in diameter and the ceiling is 208 feet (63.4 m) above the playing surface, which itself sits 25 feet (7.6 m) below street level. The Dome was completed in November 1964, six months ahead of schedule. Many engineering changes were required during construction, including the modest flattening of the supposed "hemispherical roof" to cope with environmentally-induced structural deformation and the use of a new paving process called "lime stabilization" to cope with changes in the chemistry of the soil. The Multi-purpose Stadium , designed to facilitate both football and baseball, was nearly circular and used movable lower seating areas. Similar approaches have been used in several other stadiums ( Washington , New York , Philadelphia , Atlanta , St. Louis , San Diego , Cincinnati , and Pittsburgh ). When the Astrodome opened, it used a natural Bermuda Grass playing surface. The dome's ceiling contained numerous semitransparent plastic panes made of Lucite . Players quickly complained that glare coming off of the panes made it impossible for them to track fly balls, so all of the panes were painted over, which solved the glare problem but caused the grass to die from lack of sunlight. For most of the 1965 season, the Astros played on green-painted dirt and dead grass. As the 1966 season approached, there was the possibility of the team playing on an all dirt infield. The solution was to install a new type of artificial grass on the field, ChemGrass , which became known as AstroTurf . Because the supply of AstroTurf was still low, only a limited amount was available for the home opener on April 18 , 1966 . There wasn't enough for the entire outfield, but there was enough to cover the traditional grass portion of the infield. The outfield remained painted dirt until after the All-Star Break. The team was sent on an extended road trip before the break, and on July 19 , 1966 , the installation of the outfield portion of AstroTurf was completed and ready for play. The infield dirt remained in the traditional design, with a large dirt arc, similar to natural grass fields. The "sliding pit" configuration, with dirt only around the bases, did not arrive in Houston until the mid 1970s. The sliding pits were introduced by Cincinnati with the opening of Riverfront Stadium on June 30 , 1970 . It was then installed in the new stadiums of Philadelphia in 1971, and Kansas City in 1973. The artificial turf fields of Pittsburgh and St. Louis were traditionally configured like the Astrodome, and would also change to sliding pits in the 1970s. Scoreboard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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