Cars in the Astrodome! Could anything be more Houston?

No, the Astrodome won't become the world's biggest parking garage, though some folks thinking that's what Harris County plans. Rather, officials are turning only part of the Astrodome into a parking garage — and that might be a good thing if it saves the historic structure, proponents of the plan said.

But opponents see irony in the plan to convert the underground portion of the Astrodome into 1,400 indoor parking spaces. What could be more Houston than turning the Eighth Wonder of the World into a climate-controlled parking garage? Isn't that how Houston makes progressive choices? It's like slathering tofu in barbecue sauce or building a gasoline-powered spinner for a compost bin.

"I think what irks me the most about the proposal is that it is exactly what everyone feared: Car storage," said Carson Lucarelli, a local urban planner critical of Houston's car-focused decision making.

Lucarelli said the distinction of what's the best use for the Dome and what's politically palatable is evident in the discussion. With it huge footprint, he said the Astrodome ought to be considered as a potential anchor for the entire area south of Rice Village and the Texas Medical Center.

But, as supporters are quick to note, the parking plan saves the Dome — which is significant in a city where historic buildings can disappear quickly to make way for development.

“The real story is that we're finally getting the Big Room idea — the Dome can stay the Dome,” wrote longtime Astrodome preservationist James Glassman. “… Sure, we all roll our eyes when we hear ‘parking,’ but our beloved, erstwhile signature landmark will soon no longer be erstwhile!”

And really, some observers said, the parking is no big deal.

“The proposed parking will not detract from its architectural or historical character, and the minimal changes to the building will allow the Astrodome to be reused in other ways in the future,” said Courtney Tardy with the Rice Design Alliance.

Both levels of the planned parking will be underground, between ground level and the Astrodome's current floor. In effect, the parking garage's roof will become the new, ground-level "floor" — available for new uses.

“Pretty much everyone we’ve spoken with – developers, architects, event specialists – have said you pretty much have to raise the floor 30 feet to ground level to have the proper access to use the event space inside,” said Joe Stinebaker, spokesman for Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.

Stinebaker bristled at criticism that officials are saving the Dome by turning it into a parking garage.

“That’s like saying the Washington Monument is a cafeteria just because it has vending machines installed below it,” he said.

The parking, he added, will also create revenue, something many other proposals do not.

David Bush, acting executive director of Preservation Houston, says that you could even argue that the Dome wouldn't be the Dome were it not for cars.

“The Astrodome was developed with Houston’s car culture in mind,” Bush said. “The stadium was built out where it is so there could be acres of parking.”

And now cars might save the Dome, Bush said: Subterranean parking could give it the income stream it needs to survive.

For some urbanists, compared to the acres of surface lots on the NRG Park grounds, a compact, multi-level parking garage represents progress.

“Free parking is the true socialist scourge dragging the region’s economy down and surface parking is the true ecological disaster, so this is neither of those,” said Jay Crossley, former executive director of Houston Tomorrow, which has advocated for more transit and less car-centric development in Houston.

In fact, Crossley said, the NRG Park area could change into Houston’s eighth downtown — the central business district, Uptown, Texas Medical Center, Energy Corridor, Greenspoint, The Woodlands, Sugar Land and Pearland being the others. Having a revived Eighth Wonder of the World is critical to that eighth downtown, he said.

But if the drawn-out debate over what to do with the crumbling Astrodome is any indication, nothing lasts forever — including this parking plan. That placates some skeptics.

“As long as the alterations take place with the approval of the Texas Historical Commission, I am all for it,” architectural historian Stephen Fox said. “It can all be undone when the time comes.”