Friday, June 03, 2011

Another Stadium Being Constructed In Houston

During the early part of the 2Ks, new stadiums and arenas went up for almost all of Houston's professional major league sports teams. 

The Astros in 2000 opened Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston followed two years later by the opening of Reliant Stadium next door to the Astrodome for the Houston Texans.

In October 2003 Toyota Center opened up downtown just south of the George R. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park for the Rockets and Aeros.

So what team didn't get a stadium in the early 2k's?   The Houston Dynamo, our Major League Soccer franchise.  The Dynamo didn't exist until 2005.   Houston got an expansion MLS franchise which was stocked with players from the dormant San Jose Earthquakes team.   The Dynamo currently plays its games at UH's Robertson Stadium and won MLS titles in 2006 and 2007.

But playing at Robertson Stadium was always considered a temporary arrangement until a new soccer specific stadium could be built.   

That finally came to pass when ground was broken for the Dynamo's new 22,000 seat soccer specific stadium on February 5 just to the east of Minute Maid Park on the opposite side of the Eastex Freeway..

Actual construction started on it in March with a scheduled completion date of April 2012.  It will also become the home stadium for Texas Southern University football games in addition to concerts and other events. 

And yes, in case you H-town residents are reading this and wondering about it, the new stadium will be accessible to the METRORail via the Bastrop Street Station on the now under construction East End/Brown Line.

Looking forward to seeing the new stadium when it's finally completed and opened next April.


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