Colt Stadium
Houston, TX

   Home of the Houston Colt .45’s, later the Astros, Colt Stadium became the hottest place to play baseball when it opened. When MLB awarded the Houston area a National League franchise in 1960, the team needed a place to play at, until a planned dome stadium could be built. The team decided to construct

a temporary stadium until the dome stadium was built. A 33,000 seat, one tier ballpark was constructed for the Colts to begin playing in. The ballpark was named Colt Stadium, and the first game played there was on April 10, 1962. One tier of multicolored seats and bleachers extended from the right field foul pole to home plate and around to the left field foul pole. Additional seating was located in both right and left field. The scoreboard made up part of the centerfield wall. Colt Stadium was an awful place to play baseball at. The temperature was always hot, even at night, and mosquitoes were terrible. During a double header one Sunday, over 100 fans were sent to the first aid room at Colt Stadium. While the Colts .45s played at Colt Stadium, the teams’ new dome stadium, the Astrodome was being constructed beyond the first base grandstand. The final game at Colt Stadium was on September 27, 1964. In 1965, the Colts .45s renamed the Astros, moved across the parking lot into the Astrodome. Colt Stadium remained standing for five years after the Colt .45s moved out. It served mainly as a storage yard. Team owner Roy Hofheinz had the entire stadium painted gray so that it would not stand out in aerial photos of the Astrodome. In the late 1960’s Colt Stadium was sold to a minor league Mexican team for \$100,000. The stadium was disassembled and moved to Torreon, Mexico. The stadium was moved once again to Tampico, Mexico where it stills sits today and is part of a public playground.