Gabrielle Banks reports on a new plan to save the Houston Astrodome that "has become the blueprint for a public-private partnership overseen by a conservancy…" The conservancy, Banks adds, "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."

The proposed plan is currently under consideration by "representatives of various stakeholders" and will likely be finished and ready for consideration by county officials by the end of the year. The decision to support the proposal will come to the five-member Commissioners Court, already appears to have some of the necessary political support for approval, according to the analysis and fact-finding of the article. Banks also examines other local models, like the Houston Zoo and Discovery Green, for examples of how the partnership could work. (via Planetizen)

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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.

The details for the partnership - and who will commit to covering what percentage of the costs - are being discussed in meetings between representatives of various stakeholders, including during a session on Tuesday and another one scheduled for Friday.

The finished funding plan will come before county officials likely before year's end, and, if the majority of the five-member Commissioners Court backs the proposal, the Astrodome revival will commence.

The prospects of saving Houston's most famous landmark seemed dim just less than two years ago when voters put aside their fond memories and rejected a $217 million plan to convert the Astrodome to an event and exhibit space, bringing the decaying stadium once dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" a step closer to the wrecking ball.

Months before the election, the sports and convention corporation board, the county agency that runs NRG Park, passed a resolution saying that if a vote were to fail, the agency would ask Commissioners Court to allow it to prepare a plan to demolish the Dome.

Since then, all eyes have been on the commissioners, who hold the power to determine the fate of the stadium, which has served as nothing more than a storage facility since city inspectors declared it unfit for occupancy in 2009.1