What's going to become of the beleaguered Astrodome? That was the question facing Harris County Judge Ed Emmett Wednesday morning.

Emmett discussed some of the possibilities for the historic dome's future, including tearing it down and converting it into a usable concept. Though he stressed the need to wait for the findings of an ongoing study of the matter, Emmett did say he generally did not support tearing it down and suggested it might be possible to restore it to a sort of amphitheater — but only if the taxpayers voted to approve the spending to make it possible.

But in the middle of a highly reasonable and complicated debate, I was amazed by what Emmett says is the most common suggestion for the building.

"I have people write me almost daily with new ideas, and most of them are good ideas, but they all cost money," he said. "And of course the one idea I hear the most about is converting it into a casino. Well, casino gambling's not legal in the state of Texas. They need to take that up with the legislature."

Can it really be true that people seriously believe that an AstroCasino is a possibility? Are Houstonians (or at least a few of them) as silly as the citizens of Pawnee in Parks and Recreation?

I can think of few things dumber than spending hundreds of millions to convert a crumbling stadium into a functional casino, in the feint hope that someday gambling is legalized. I mean, that's obvious, right? To everyone? Do I need to make some charts and graphs here?

Sure, it would be cool to have a giant casino in town, especially if you like casinos. (Personally, if I'm going to throw my money away, I'd rather see it hanging in my closet.)

You know what else would be cool? If we turned the Astrodome into a time machine. But I'm not writing our public servants and suggesting we spend millions making into a giant DeLorean in the hopes that Doc's science holds up.