Naman and Associates, the same firm that had designed the park's outdoor air conditioning they donated the model to the Houston Public Library. He stored it in his garage before it was displayed in fall 2010 at the Optical Project gallery, operated by artists Bill Davenport and Francesca Fuchs.
After the park closed in 2005, the model was discovered sawed into six pieces in a warehouse, then returned to Henderson. It was displayed in the window of Foley's, a downtown department store, then moved to Hofheinz's Astrodome suite once the park opened as an Easter egg, a model of Hofheinz's black Cadillac is parked in a private lot in the northwest corner of the park's model. Architecture students at Rice University and the University of Houston sculpted many of the buildings. Henderson's model of AstroWorld, measuring 8 by 10 feet (2.4 m × 3.0 m), was built as a publicity preview of the park in 1967. Įxecutives commissioned Ed Henderson, a Disney animator, to build a scale replica of the park and design maps for park guests. The name AstroWorld was selected following Houston's designation as the home of the Johnson Space Center in 1965, paying homage to the nation's crewed space programs. Dozier Specialty, who had previously worked on Colt Stadium, was the general contractor. 500,000 cu yd (380,000 m 3) of fill was required for the site, because of its low elevation and drainage issues. Naman & Associates (air conditioning) Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (electrical) Walter P Moore (structural) Turner, Collie & Braden (civil engineering) and Linesch & Reynolds (landscape architects). Īdditional design work for the park was performed by I. Lloyd, Morgan & Jones designed the bridge. An initial $25 million investment paid for extensive landscaping and a long pedestrian viaduct spanning the I-610 freeway, the first privately owned, publicly accessible span over a federal highway.
Hofheinz showed an architectural model of the park and announced that Randall Duell and Associates had designed it Duell, a Hollywood set designer and architect, had previously designed Six Flags Over Texas. In 1967, Hofheinz initially denied that preliminary work for an amusement park had been underway, but later announced on September 16 that approximately half of the remaining land, 57-acre (23 ha), was being developed for a park to be named "Astroworld". and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1969 Hofheinz had acquired the circus in December 1967), and four hotels with a capacity of 5,600 guests to serve visitors: the Astroworld Motor Hotel (with a private suite for Hofheinz on the ninth floor), Holiday Inn-Astroworld, Howard Johnson Motor Lodge-Astroworld, and Sheraton Inn-Astroworld. Hofheinz continued to develop the Astrodomain, creating AstroWorld (1968), the Astrohall convention center (which hosted twice-daily stagings of the now-defunct Ringling Bros. It owned 116 acres (47 ha) in south Houston surrounding the Astrodome. Judge Roy Hofheinz, who was one of the original owners of the Houston Astros baseball team and spearheaded the lobbying effort that resulted in Harris County financing the construction of the Astrodome, founded the "Astrodomain" holding company after the Astrodome's opening in 1965. Many rides were sold at auction or relocated to other Six Flags' properties, and demolition of the remaining structures was completed by mid-2006. Following declining revenue, rising property value, and other issues facing Six Flags, the company closed AstroWorld permanently after its final day of operations on October 30, 2005, the final night of Fright Fest.
WaterWorld, an adjacent water park, was acquired and added to AstroWorld in 2002. Notable rides featured at the park included the Texas Cyclone, a wooden roller coaster built in 1976 that was modeled after the well-known Coney Island Cyclone, and Thunder River, considered the world's first successful river rapids ride when it opened in 1980. The Hofheinz family sold AstroWorld to Six Flags in 1978. The park opened on June 1, 1968, and was developed originally and constructed as part of the Astrodomain, the brainchild of local philanthropist and former Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz, who intended it to complement the Astrodome. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was situated between Kirby Drive and Fannin Street, directly south of I-610. Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas.
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