Astrodome

Founded in 1960, the Houston Oilers originally played at Jeppessen Stadium for five seasons. The team then spent three seasons at Rice Stadium. Originally known as the Harris County Domed Stadium, the stadium opened in 1965. The Houston Astros (MLB) played the first game ever at the Astrodome on April 12, 1965. Six levels of multicolored seats circled three-fourths of the stadium. The Astrodome became home of the University of Houston's football team in 1965.  It was one of the first stadiums to have luxury suites with 53. Each of the 42,217 seats in the Astrodome were cushioned. Behind the end zone was a $2 million 474 foot long scoreboard and display picture board.

The actual dome is 18 stories above the playing field, and consists of "Lucite" skylights, that originally allowed sunlight to help grow the natural grass playing field. However, these translucent panels presented a problem. During afternoon baseball games, outfielders were blinded by the sunlight. Thirty percent of the panels were coated with paint to reduce the problem. However another problem arose. The natural grass began to die because enough sunlight was not reaching it. A new type of turf named after the team, called Astroturf was introduced after the 1965 season. Astroturf was a green surface of nylon grass.

The Houston Oilers made their debut at the Astrodome on September 9, 1968. In order for football to be played at the Astrodome, two sets of 5,000 seats could be moved to form a football gridiron. The Astrodome retained the same look until 1989. During the fall of that year, the stadium underwent several changes. Over 12,000 seats were added to the Astrodome, bringing the capacity to nearly 60,000 for football and enc. Five tiers of seating now enclosed the playing field. The original scoreboard was replaced by new video boards in the upper deck. By the mid 1990's, both tenants of the Astrodome, the Oilers and Astros wanted new individual stadiums. After failing to receive support for a football only facility, owner of the Oilers, Bud Adams decided to move his team to Tennessee after the 1996 season. The Oilers played their last game at the Astrodome on December 21, 1996. The Astros played two more seasons at the Astrodome before moving into Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston. Today, the Astrodome continues to serve as home to many events. In 2000, Houston was awarded an expansion NFL franchise, the Houston Texans. They began playing at Reliant Stadium in August 2002.