The Astros inched closer to getting a new stadium in downtown Houston 30 years ago this month.
On Sept. 14, team owner Drayton McLane Jr. signed a deal with local leaders committing the franchise to Houston’s city center. A few more hurdles would need to be cleared before construction crews could start overturning dirt at Union Station, but the deal signified a big step toward keeping the Astros in Houston.
Meanwhile, the Chronicle polled 417 registered voters in Harris County for their take on plans for a new stadium. Here’s what voters had to say:
- Forty-six percent of respondents said if a new stadium was built it should go downtown, compared to 28 percent who said it should be at the Astrodome complex.
- Forty-three percent opposed funding professional sports facilities with public dollars while 38 percent supported it.
- Forty-seven percent said that if a new football facility were built, county officials should update the Astrodome for $200 million to give it a better configuration for football and the rodeo. Twenty-nine percent said the $200 million should be used to build a new domed stadium that could also be used by the rodeo. Twenty-four percent were not sure.
Switching gears, on Sept. 30, 1996, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department noted it had been five years since the abduction and killing of deputy Roxyann Allee…