Whitmire wants voters to weigh in on county plan for...

Less than five months ago, the future of the Astrodome seemed to be more secure than it has been in the decades since it hosted its last Astros game, with Harris County commissioners moving forward on a massive renovation project they said would usher in festivals, conferences and commercial development to the aging stadium.

Now, that future again might be getting hazier. Veteran state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said Friday he plans to introduce legislation next week that would require the county to hold a referendum on its $105 million project to raise the floor of the stadium and create 1,400 parking spaces, a move many thought would be its saving grace.

Citing concerns about how the county is spending taxpayer dollars, Whitmire's move is the latest in a series of skirmishes over the stadium, the world's first multi-purpose domed stadium for sporting events. It comes more than three years after voters rejected a $217 million proposal to turn the Dome into a street-level convention hall and exhibit space, which many believed doomed it to demolition.

"I'm trying to allow the public to have a vote, the taxpayers to have a vote, before we spend over $100 million on the Dome with no stated purpose," Whitmire said.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, who has long championed repurposing the Dome and was one of the chief advocates of the $105 million plan, said Friday that Whitmire's proposal "risks derailing" that solution, which he called a "fiscally prudent decision."

"The Dome is a vexing issue," he said. "But to me, it's an asset."

Emmett said he had not heard about Whitmire's plans to file the bill before Friday.

"It's a little unusual for a legislator to file a piece of legislation that affects a specific piece of property that's totally paid for," Emmett said. "I have never heard of that before. It's also unusual to have legislation filed directly that tells a county how tooperate without talking to the county."

The stadium, which was home to the Oilers and Astros and hosted countless major sporting events, including four of boxing great Muhammad Ali's fights, has sat vacant since being declared unfit for occupancy in 2009. In 2005, it housed thousands of people from Louisiana displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

'It's a good idea'

The Astrodome has not housed a professional sports team since the Astros moved to Minute Maid Park in 2000. Two years later, NRG Stadium opened nearby to serve as the home of the NFL's Texans.

Currently, the Dome costs close to $170,000 a year to maintain, according to county estimates.

In September, county commissioners voted unanimously to allocate $10.5 million for the "design phase" of the Astrodome project, and an architectural and engineering team now is working to lay out blueprints for the full project. Additional expenditures would require approval from commissioners.

About one-third of the project, or roughly $35 million, would come from the county's general fund, made up largely of property tax revenue. Another third would come from hotel taxes, with the remaining third coming from county parking revenues.

In January, the state historical commission voted to designate the Astrodome a "state antiquities landmark," meaning that it cannot be "removed, altered, damaged, salvaged or excavated" without first obtaining permission from the commission.

The state commission has yet to weigh in on the $105 million plan, though county officials said Friday they have briefed commission members on the plans.

The exact language of Whitmire's bill, which he said he is calling the Harris County Taxpayer Protection Act, will not be finalized until it is filed next week. He said it would be worded to target projects like the Astrodome that had been targeted by referenda in the past. He said it had "broad bipartisan support."

Gov. Dan Patrick could not be reached for comment. But state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Patrick confidante and Houston Republican, said he supports Whitmire's proposal.

"It's a good idea," Bettencourt said. "We had a referendum. The vote was no. Everyone was promised they would not use property tax money in that project. And now that's effectively what they're proposing to do."

'On behalf of the taxpayers'

Whitmire also said: "I just think it's a very hazardous way and irresponsible way to deal with taxpayer monies."

He said he took issue with different components of the funding, saying that some of the funds used for the $105 million project could also be used for other facilities, like NRG Stadium.

The Texans, who play in NRG Stadium in the shadow of the Dome and are tenants of NRG Park, have proposed in the past that the Dome be demolished.

Whitmire said he was not filing the bill at the behest of the Texans or any other organization, but in an interview he said he is hearing from "different associations or venues or organizations, and they are all worried" about the county funding an Astrodome renovation.

"This is John Whitmire," he said. "This is senator Whitmire on behalf of the taxpayers."

The Texans did not answer questions about their support for Whitmire's proposed legislation on Friday.

Brian T. Smith and Mike Ward contributed to this report.