Houston voters nixed a $217 million referendum Tuesday that would have saved the iconic Astrodome, which means the so-called "Eighth Wonder of the World" will likely be demolished.
Fifty-three percent of voters turned down the proposal to revamp the
Astrodome and turn it into an event and exhibition center, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"We can't allow the once-proud Astrodome to sit like a rusting ship in the middle of a parking lot. This was the best effort [to revamp the stadium], and voters have turned it down,"
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett told The Associated Press.
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County commissioners previously said they would recommend that the structure be razed if the referendum failed.
"There's no disputing this building is an icon," Beth Wiedower of the National Trust for Historic Preservation told the Chronicle. "Its legacy will live on even if it doesn't. It seems like its fate is sealed. Obviously we are disappointed in the outcome."
Opened in 1965, the landmark was the world's first domed sports stadium, hosting both the MLB's Houston Astros and the NFL's Houston Oilers. The sports teams moved on in 1999, and the Astrodome ultimately closed its doors in 2009 after falling into disrepair.
Houston residents lamented the Astrodome's fate on Twitter after the final votes were tallied.
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