Editing Six Flags AstroWorld (section)

===Planning and construction===
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, Texas|Harris County]] financing the construction of the [[Astrodome]], founded the "Astrodomain" holding company after the Astrodome's opening in 1965. It owned {{Convert|116|acres}} in south Houston surrounding the Astrodome. Hofheinz continued to develop the Astrodomain, creating AstroWorld (1968), the Astrohall convention center (which hosted twice-daily stagings of the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]] in 1969;<ref name=Diehl-69>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12031557/astro-world/ |title=Astroworld Is Ideal For Family Vacation Fun |author=Diehl, Henry |newspaper=[[Longview News-Journal|Longview News]] |date=July 6, 1969 |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719152419/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12031557/astro-world/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12031500/circus-houston-69/ |title=World's Largest Circus To Summer Near Astrodome |date=May 21, 1969 |newspaper=[[Galveston Daily News]] |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719152420/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12031500/circus-houston-69/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Hofheinz had acquired the circus in December 1967),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12030985/circus-bought-houston/ |title=Greatest Show on Earth Bought |date=December 21, 1967 |newspaper=Brookshire Times |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719152419/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12030985/circus-bought-houston/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.papercitymag.com/real-estate/roy-hofheinz-private-penthouse-celestial-suite-astrodome-hotel-peek-inside/ |title=Inside Roy Hofheinz's Lavish Private Penthouse Suite |author=Anspon, Catherine D. |website=PaperCity |date=November 19, 2017 |access-date=20 July 2021 |archive-date=July 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720151245/https://www.papercitymag.com/real-estate/roy-hofheinz-private-penthouse-celestial-suite-astrodome-hotel-peek-inside/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Holiday Inn-Astroworld, Howard Johnson Motor Lodge-Astroworld, and Sheraton Inn-Astroworld.<ref name=hofheinz>{{cite web|last=Seeber|first=Jill S.|date=June 15, 2010|title=Hofheinz, Roy Mark (1912–1982)|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho87|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426172608/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho87|archive-date=April 26, 2012|access-date=August 31, 2020|publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]]}}</ref><ref name=Tucson-68>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/18911253/ |title=Texans Claim Astroworld Largest Fun Park |date=June 29, 1968 |newspaper=[[Tucson Daily Citizen]] |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719152421/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/18911253/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1967, Hofheinz initially denied that preliminary work for an amusement park had been underway,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://astrodomememories.org/items/show/1567 |title=Evans Wrote It Last January |date=September 17, 1967 |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714155109/https://astrodomememories.org/items/show/1567 |url-status=live }}</ref> but later announced on September 16 that approximately half of the remaining land, {{cvt|57|acre|adj=on}}, was being developed for a park to be named "Astroworld".<ref name=Chron-1967>{{cite news |url=https://astrodomememories.org/items/show/1609 |title=Hofheinz, Astrodome Operator, Maps $25-Mil Amusement Park Next Door |date=September 27, 1967 <!--|newspaper=Houston Chronicle?--> |publisher=Astrodome Memories |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714155110/https://astrodomememories.org/items/show/1609 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=CCCT-1967>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43733046/astroworld-announced/ |title=Astroworld Will Be Amusement |date=October 22, 1967 |newspaper=[[The Corpus Christi Caller-Times]] |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714155111/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43733046/astroworld-announced/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]].<ref name=Chron-1967/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4071409/astroworld-sept-1967/ |title=Multimillion Dollar Amusement Center Is Under Construction Near Astrodome |date=September 17, 1967 |agency=AP |newspaper=[[Corpus Christi Caller-Times]] |access-date=15 July 2021 |archive-date=July 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715174027/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4071409/astroworld-sept-1967/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=December 4, 1992|title=Randall Duell Is Dead; Park Designer Was 89|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/04/obituaries/randall-duell-is-dead-park-designer-was-89.html|url-status=live|access-date=August 27, 2020|archive-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402043455/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/04/obituaries/randall-duell-is-dead-park-designer-was-89.html}}</ref> An initial $25&nbsp;million investment paid for extensive landscaping and a long pedestrian viaduct spanning the [[Interstate 610 (Texas)|I-610]] freeway,<ref name="HTO">{{cite journal | first=Delicia | last=Daniels | title=Astroworld | journal=[[Handbook of Texas]] | access-date=August 26, 2020 | url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/astroworld | publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] | archive-date=August 28, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828145618/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/astroworld | url-status=live }}</ref> the first privately owned, publicly accessible span over a federal highway.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-story-of-the-AstroWorld-bridge-over-the-South-12965418.php |title=The story of how the president of the United States made the AstroWorld bridge possible |author=Hlavaty, Craig |date=June 4, 2018 |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714151239/https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-story-of-the-AstroWorld-bridge-over-the-South-12965418.php |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Arthur E. Jones|Lloyd, Morgan & Jones]] designed the bridge.<ref name=Family-Baytown>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43733137/astroworld-announced-info/ |title=Astroworld--Truly A Family Affair |date=September 24, 1967 |newspaper=[[The Baytown Sun]] |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-date=July 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719152422/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43733137/astroworld-announced-info/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!--Integration notes: During his terms as county judge and mayor, Hofheinz claimed credit for quietly integrating Harris County buses, golf courses, and City Hall restrooms.<ref name=SI-1969>{{cite news |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/04/21/the-greatest-showman-on-earth-and-hes-the-first-to-admit-it |title=The Greatest Showman on Earth, and he's the first to admit it |author=Maule, Tex |author-link=Tex Maule |date=April 21, 1969 |work=Sports Illustrated |access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> It is not clear if he intended for AstroWorld to be segregated whether by intent or unfriendly policies, such as location inaccessible to public transportation, but Hofheinz's prior record seems to indicate that he would have supported integration. I think it would be synthesis to attribute intent to the location of AstroWorld without an explicit reference.-->

Additional design work for the park was performed by I. A. Naman & Associates (air conditioning); Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (electrical); [[Walter P Moore]] (structural); Turner, Collie & Braden (civil engineering); and Linesch & Reynolds (landscape architects).<ref name=Family-Baytown/> {{cvt|500000|yd3}} of fill was required for the site, because of its low elevation and drainage issues.<ref name=CCCT-1967/> Dozier Specialty, who had previously worked on [[Colt Stadium]], was the general contractor.<ref name=Family-Baytown/> 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.<ref name="HTO"/>

Executives commissioned Ed Henderson, a [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] animator, to build a scale replica of the park and design maps for park guests.<ref name=Turner-2011/><ref name="50th Anniversary-HoustonPress" /><ref name="EdHenderson-HC">{{cite news |last1=McGuinness |first1=Dylan |title=Ed Henderson, Disney animator behind Astrodome scoreboard cartoons, dies at 95 |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Ed-Henderson-Disney-animator-behind-Astrodome-15022812.php |url-status=live |access-date=August 29, 2020 |work=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=February 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310235003/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Ed-Henderson-Disney-animator-behind-Astrodome-15022812.php |archive-date=March 10, 2020}}</ref> Henderson's model of AstroWorld, measuring {{convert|8|×|10|ft|m}}, was built as a publicity preview of the park in 1967. Architecture students at [[Rice University]] and the [[University of Houston]] sculpted many of the buildings.<ref name=Turner-2011/> It was displayed in the window of [[Foley's]], a downtown department store,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://astrodomememories.org/items/show/1572 |title=Re: Astroworld Model |author=Chandler, Wayne |date=May 8, 1968 |publisher=Astrodome Memories |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714155748/https://astrodomememories.org/items/show/1572 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://swamplot.com/now-on-craigslist-original-astroworld-model/2011-06-29/ |title=Now on Craigslist: Original AstroWorld Model |date=June 29, 2011 |website=Swamplot |access-date=13 July 2021 |archive-date=July 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713173337/http://swamplot.com/now-on-craigslist-original-astroworld-model/2011-06-29/ |url-status=live }}</ref> then moved to Hofheinz's Astrodome suite<!--Hofheinz had residences in both the Astrodome and the Astrodome Hotel. The Astrodome suite was behind the scoreboard and were removed in the 1980s: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-03-18-mn-1682-story.html The former Astrodome Motor Hotel is at 8686 Kirby, with a 9th floor penthouse designed by Harper Goff as Hofheinz's private residence; the rooms are still intact. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-hotel-suites-at-the-top-of-the-Crowne-Plaze-12227040.php--> once the park opened;<ref name=Swamplot-2010/> 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.<ref name=Turner-2011/> After the park closed in 2005, the model was discovered, sawed into six pieces in a warehouse, then returned to Henderson. 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.<ref name=Swamplot-2010>{{cite web |url=http://swamplot.com/for-sale-early-model-astroworld/2010-10-29/ |title=For sale: early model AstroWorld |date=October 29, 2010 |website=Swamplot |access-date=13 July 2021 |archive-date=July 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713173338/http://swamplot.com/for-sale-early-model-astroworld/2010-10-29/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2011, it was sold to I. A. Naman and Associates, the same firm that had designed the park's outdoor air conditioning; they donated the model to the [[Houston Public Library]].<ref name=Turner-2011/>