Fifty years after it would have opened, it remains one of the great what-ifs in our city’s history.
What if the University of Toledo had built a roof over the Glass Bowl, and, in the spirit of the Astrodome, given us the Glasstrodome?
Come again?
Yes, believe it or not — and here’s betting only readers of a certain age will — it almost happened.
In a mostly forgotten but completely fascinating bit of local trivia, Toledo nearly converted the Glass Bowl into the second multi-purpose, domed sports stadium on the planet. The Ninth Wonder of the World — the Astrodome in Houston was billed as the eighth upon its opening in 1965 — would have been home to the Rockets’ football and basketball programs.