Kenneth Womack, Ph.D., professor of English and Popular Music, appeared on the debut episode of the second season of “American Built,” which premiered Aug. 10 on Fox Nation. The episode, ‘American Built: Astrodome,’ is largely based on “The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Life of Houston’s Iconic Astrodome,” co-authored by Womack and published in 2016 by the University of Nebraska Press.
To kick off the second season, series host Steve Doocy examines how the city of Houston, Texas, confronted the challenge of how to construct the Astrodome after promising Major League Baseball a massive roofed stadium in the 1960s. “Much of the story involves my grandfather Kenneth Zimmerman’s innovative engineering solutions associated with the Dome’s construction,” Womack said. “Many of my family’s photographs were included in the episode.”
In the episode, Womack helps explain how the visionaries of baseball pulled off the construction of the world’s first indoor, air-conditioned domed stadium, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places both for its architectural and cultural significance.