New Houston Dynamo stadium
Encyclopedia
Houston Dynamo stadium is a planned soccer specific stadium in Houston. The 16 to 18 month project is planned to be completed during the month of May in the 2012 Major League Soccer season and is expected to cost $110 million. The Houston Dynamo
plan to play on the road for the first two months of the 2012 season, and possibly play a couple of home games at Reliant Stadium
before their own stadium is completed. The stadium will have a capacity of 22,000–30,000. The primary tenant will be the Houston Dynamo
of Major League Soccer
. The venue will also host Texas Southern University
football
games. The stadium will be located southeast of Minute Maid Park
—within East Downtown and east of .
Various locations the Dynamo were interested in building a stadium since their arrival were the former Astroworld site, Pearland
, Sugar Land
, and Northeast Houston near the Lake Houston
area.
On January 26, 2010, the Houston Dynamo franchise had expressed an interest in a proposed 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) parcel for the stadium location at South Rice Avenue and Westpark Drive—adjacent to Bellaire
's city limits, and near the southwest corner of the U.S. Highway 59 and the Interstate 610
interchange. Two days later, the Mayor
of Bellaire
, Cindy Seigel said that she would use whatever power she could to oppose the possible new location and is in communication with the developer to dissuade him. She acknowledges that considering that the land is in Houston's city limits and only abuts her city, the odds are slim and said in an open letter to Midway:
The highly populated and heavily Hispanic area of Gulfton is within proximity, although former Council member Pam Holm stated that ethnic considerations should not be key to choosing a stadium location: “To position this as a Hispanic
sport and say the stadium has to be in proximity to Hispanic neighborhoods doesn’t do it justice, the Dynamo is something that all citizens of Houston have so embraced.”
On April 7, 2010, The Houston City Council unanimously approved an agreement Wednesday that is expected to pave the way for a new stadium for the Houston Dynamo and the Texas Southern University football team, which is expected to be on a tract of land bordered by Texas, Walker, Dowling and Hutchins in East Downtown and east of U.S. Route 59
and Downtown Houston.
On April 13, 2010, Harris County commissioners voted unanimously to begin construction of the new Dynamo stadium east of downtown, clearing the way for construction sometime in February 2011.
Oliver Luck
, at the time President and General Manager of the Dynamo, announced the financing, architect, and project manager for the new stadium. He announced Populous had been chosen to design and build the stadium. Populous, one of the world's leading sports architecture firms, had previously built three other major venues in the city—Minute Maid Park
, Reliant Stadium
, and the Toyota Center
. and internationally designed soccer stadia including Wembley Stadium
(London), Emirates Stadium
(London), Soccer City (Joannesburg) and Aviva Stadium
(Dublin).
On February 5, 2011, the Houston Dynamo, lead by Houston mayor Annise Parker
and Harris County
Judge Ed Emmitt, broke ground on the Houston Dynamo Stadium site. Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti strongly expressed that the stadium will be ready by April 2012.
Architecturally the stadium will feature a faceted facade of expanded metal mesh with orange polycarbonate enclosed entrances and spectator facilities. The stadium architect, Christopher Lee of Populous, stated that “We set out to design the perfect urban soccer stadium: tight, atmospheric, and intimate.”
improvements, the county agreed to pay for half of the land in exchange for the ability to jointly own the stadium after its expected completion date in June 2012. bank BBVA Compass finance a portion of the loan that will be paid for by the TIRZ.
Green line is completed, fans will be able to access the stadium from the Bastrop Station, Taxi, Buses, street and garage parking nearby.
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Dynamo is an American professional soccer club, based in Houston, Texas, that plays in Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. Founded in 2005 as Houston 1836, the team name was renamed to Houston Dynamo following protests from Hispanic...
plan to play on the road for the first two months of the 2012 season, and possibly play a couple of home games at Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
before their own stadium is completed. The stadium will have a capacity of 22,000–30,000. The primary tenant will be the Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Dynamo is an American professional soccer club, based in Houston, Texas, that plays in Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. Founded in 2005 as Houston 1836, the team name was renamed to Houston Dynamo following protests from Hispanic...
of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
. The venue will also host Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games. The stadium will be located southeast of Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
—within East Downtown and east of .
History
In June 2009, negotiations and financing began to fall into place with construction of the stadium originally beginning as early as Fall 2009. Banks and investors were in the books to finance the project and only minor details were being worked out.Various locations the Dynamo were interested in building a stadium since their arrival were the former Astroworld site, Pearland
Pearland, Texas
Pearland , is a city located along the Gulf Coast region in the US state of Texas within the metropolitan area and is in the counties of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris. As of the census of 2000, the city's population was 37,640. As of 2008, Pearland is estimated to have a population of 90,700...
, Sugar Land
Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. Sugar Land is one of the most affluent and fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade. In the time period of 2000–2007, Sugar Land also enjoyed a...
, and Northeast Houston near the Lake Houston
Lake Houston
Lake Houston is a reservoir on the west fork of the San Jacinto River, 15 miles northeast of downtown Houston, Texas, USA. The reservoir is the secondary municipal water supply for the city of Houston after Lake Livingston....
area.
On January 26, 2010, the Houston Dynamo franchise had expressed an interest in a proposed 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) parcel for the stadium location at South Rice Avenue and Westpark Drive—adjacent to Bellaire
Bellaire, Texas
Bellaire is a city in southwest Harris County, Texas, United States, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 15,642 and is completely surrounded by the cities of Houston and West University Place....
's city limits, and near the southwest corner of the U.S. Highway 59 and the Interstate 610
Interstate 610 (Texas)
Interstate 610 is a freeway that forms a forty-two-mile loop around the downtown sector of city of Houston, Texas. Interstate 610, colloquially known as "The Loop", "Loop 610", "The 610 Loop", or just "610", traditionally marks the border between the inner city of Houston and its surrounding areas...
interchange. Two days later, the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Bellaire
Bellaire, Texas
Bellaire is a city in southwest Harris County, Texas, United States, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 15,642 and is completely surrounded by the cities of Houston and West University Place....
, Cindy Seigel said that she would use whatever power she could to oppose the possible new location and is in communication with the developer to dissuade him. She acknowledges that considering that the land is in Houston's city limits and only abuts her city, the odds are slim and said in an open letter to Midway:
Fans on the north and east side of Houston will have difficulty in getting to this site. Additionally, this site does not have the infrastructure in place to serve it that already exists at other athletic facilities downtownDowntown HoustonDowntown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...
or at Reliant ParkReliant ParkReliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
.
The highly populated and heavily Hispanic area of Gulfton is within proximity, although former Council member Pam Holm stated that ethnic considerations should not be key to choosing a stadium location: “To position this as a Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
sport and say the stadium has to be in proximity to Hispanic neighborhoods doesn’t do it justice, the Dynamo is something that all citizens of Houston have so embraced.”
On April 7, 2010, The Houston City Council unanimously approved an agreement Wednesday that is expected to pave the way for a new stadium for the Houston Dynamo and the Texas Southern University football team, which is expected to be on a tract of land bordered by Texas, Walker, Dowling and Hutchins in East Downtown and east of U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 59 is a north–south United States highway . A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, U.S. 59 is now a border-to-border route, Part of NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It parallels U.S. Route 75 for nearly its entire route, never much more than away, until it veers southwest...
and Downtown Houston.
On April 13, 2010, Harris County commissioners voted unanimously to begin construction of the new Dynamo stadium east of downtown, clearing the way for construction sometime in February 2011.
Oliver Luck
Oliver Luck
Oliver Luck is the athletic director of West Virginia University, his alma mater. Luck is a retired American football player who spent four seasons in the National Football League as a quarterback for the Houston Oilers . He was also the first president and general manager of the Houston Dynamo...
, at the time President and General Manager of the Dynamo, announced the financing, architect, and project manager for the new stadium. He announced Populous had been chosen to design and build the stadium. Populous, one of the world's leading sports architecture firms, had previously built three other major venues in the city—Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
, Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
, and the Toyota Center
Toyota Center (Houston)
The Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Houston, Texas. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Rockets of the National Basketball Association, the principal owners of the building, and the Aeros of the American Hockey League.Rockets...
. and internationally designed soccer stadia including Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
(London), Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
(London), Soccer City (Joannesburg) and Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium
The Aviva Stadium is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators. The stadium is built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road venue, which was demolished in 2007, and replaces that stadium as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the...
(Dublin).
On February 5, 2011, the Houston Dynamo, lead by Houston mayor Annise Parker
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker is an American politician and the mayor of Houston since January 2, 2010. She served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller from 2004 to 2009...
and Harris County
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
Judge Ed Emmitt, broke ground on the Houston Dynamo Stadium site. Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti strongly expressed that the stadium will be ready by April 2012.
Design
The Stadium will have a capacity 21,600-seat, 34 Private suites, Premium Club, dedicated supporters stand and food court. The stadium is designed to accommodate MLS and FIFA standard international soccer, football, lacrosse, rugby, and concerts.Architecturally the stadium will feature a faceted facade of expanded metal mesh with orange polycarbonate enclosed entrances and spectator facilities. The stadium architect, Christopher Lee of Populous, stated that “We set out to design the perfect urban soccer stadium: tight, atmospheric, and intimate.”
Financing
The city purchased the land for $15.5 million in March 2008. The franchise will pay $60 Million for the construction and the city will do an additional $20 Million for infrastructureInfrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
improvements, the county agreed to pay for half of the land in exchange for the ability to jointly own the stadium after its expected completion date in June 2012. bank BBVA Compass finance a portion of the loan that will be paid for by the TIRZ.
Accessibility and transportation
Once the METRORailMETRORail
METRORail is the light rail line in Houston . It is the second major light rail service in Texas following the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system. With an approximate daily ridership of 34,155, the METRORail ranks as the fourteenth most-traveled light rail system in the United States, with the...
Green line is completed, fans will be able to access the stadium from the Bastrop Station, Taxi, Buses, street and garage parking nearby.
External links
- Stadium Web Page
- Stadium plans
- News segment from KIAH Channel 39 Houston