NRG Stadium is the only rodeo and NFL indoor/outdoor retractable roof stadium that can be configured to utilize a 125,000 square foot space for general sessions, catered functions, exhibits, concerts, and much more. In addition, NRG Stadium offers four massive concourse levels for special events. The design of the stadium roof provides a very flexible rigging configuration for major *audio and visual* presentations. 196 suites complement NRG Stadium. Visit Their Website.
Minute Maid Park, previously known as The Ballpark at Union Station, Enron Field, and Astros Field, is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States, that opened in 2000 to house the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). The ballpark is Houston’s first retractable-roofed stadium, and features a natural grass playing field. The ballpark was built as a replacement of the Astrodome, the first domed sports stadium ever built, which opened in 1965. It is named for beverage brand Minute Maid, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, which acquired naming rights in 2002 for $100 million over 30 years. As of 2016, Minute Maid Park has a seating capacity of 41,676, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 luxury suites.
The largest entrance to the park is inside what was once Houston’s Union Station, and the left-field side of the stadium features a railway as homage to the site’s history. The train moves along a track on top of the length of the exterior wall beyond left field whenever an Astros player hits a home run and/or the Astros win a game. The engine’s coal car is filled with giant oranges in reference to Minute Maid’s most famous product, orange juice. Visit Their Website.
The George R. Brown Convention Center opened on the east side of downtown Houston on September 26, 1987. The building was named for internationally recognized entrepreneur, engineer, civic leader, philanthropist George Rufus Brown (1898-1983), who donated six of the 11 blocks necessary to build the GRB. The first convention held in the George R. Brown was the American Society of Travel Agents in October 1987. Visit Their Website.
The Texas Medical Center was established in 1945 in part with funds endowed to the M.D. Anderson Foundation by businessman Monroe Dunaway Anderson, who began the foundation two years prior to his death in 1939 to help keep his business partnership, Anderson, Clayton & Co, from dissolving due to estate taxes in the event of his death.[7] Anderson funded the foundation with $300,000, and left an additional $19 million in his estate, making the M.D. Anderson Foundation the largest charitable fund ever created in Texas. The fund’s first gift was a check of $1,000 to the Junior League Eye Fund for eyeglasses. In 1941, the Texas State Legislature granted funds to the University of Texas for the purpose of starting a cancer research hospital. On the conditions that the hospital be established in Houston and be named after its founder, the M.D. Anderson Foundation matched the state’s gift to the university by supplying funds and land. Visit Their Website.
In 1966, Society for the Performing Arts (SPA), a crown jewel in Houston’s art community, was born of Houston’s need to fill Jones Hall with performances.
Before his death in the mid 1950s, Houston philanthropist and businessman Jesse H. Jones set the wheels in motion to fill Houston’s need for a first class performance hall, establishing the generous Houston Endowment. Armed with the Endowment, Jones’ nephew, John T. Jones, Jr., turned his uncle’s magnificent dream into a reality. Jones Hall opened with much fanfare and a week-long cultural celebration in October 1966.
From its inception, the spectacular new opera hall was built to house the Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera. However, John T. Jones, Jr. realized that even with a full symphony and opera schedule there would be many nights when Jones Hall would be available for other performances. Visit Their Website.
The Manned Space Flight Education Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational foundation with an extensive science education program and a space museum. The cornerstone of its science education mission is Space Center Houston, dubbed the “Big Draw” by USA Today in 2014. It is one of Houston’s top attractions, the area’s No. 1 attraction for international visitors, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center and the only Smithsonian Affiliate in the greater Houston area. Visit Their Website.