December 10, 2013 (Tuesday)
Yesterday’s blog was mainly about the upcoming demolition and eventual replacement of Baylor University’s football stadium. I also mentioned that Houston’s Robertson stadium is being replaced.
Houston has not yet completed its program of demolition. The Astrodome has been sitting idle and voters rejected a bond issue that would have refurbished the building and turned it into commercial space of some kind. So erasure has begun. Pictures in yesterday’s papers showed the implosion of the towers that housed the ramps reaching various elevated floors in the arena. Thousands showed up when items from the Astrodome were put up for sale. The dome follows the closing and removal years ago of nearby Astroworld. There was a time when folks came to experience either or both and had lots of fun. Those days are behind us now.
Meanwhile, other arenas seem to be faring well, including Houston’s Reliant Stadium and Minute Maid Park, along with New Orleans’ Superdome, the even larger Georgia Dome, and ultimately the Cowboy Stadium, which produces shock and awe in anyone who sees it firsthand. I suppose someday each of these giant buildings will meet the same fate as the venerable Astrodome.
Every gigantic structure in history met an end sooner or later. Beginning with the famed Tower of Babel, man’s efforts to memorialize himself permanently have failed at being permanent and are now only memories.
We must always remember Jesus’ words, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away” (Matthew 24:35 NIV).