Looped In

L.A.-based Architect James Richards was living in Houston in 2015 when he heard the Astrodome was going to be open to the public for a 50th anniversary celebration. He figured it would draw a small crowd of nerdy architect and engineer types, so he decided to go. That experience was the inspiration for what Richards and his collaborator, Ben Olschner, have spent the past several years on: a proposal to turn the dome into an active urban park. Their project would strip the exterior skin off the domed structure, exposing the steel beneath it. It would be programmed with activities and eventually have a two-mile spiral track that gradually slopes from the ground level to the top of the dome. On the newest episode of Looped In, Richards describes his vision and how he thinks A-Dome Park could become a reality one day. Support the show: https://offers.houstonchronicle.com/?offerid=125&origin=newsroom&ipid=podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.