7 abandoned stadiums around the world that used to host huge events

In 1965, the Houston Astrodome opened as the first dome stadium and biggest indoor space in the world. On opening day, the sold-out crowd, which included President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, watched a Yankees-Astros baseball game.

In addition to sports, the stadium welcomed many entertainment events, including Elvis Presley, Evel Knievel, and Muhammad Ali, and quickly became the third most visited man-made attraction in the United States. The buzzing venue suddenly became vacant when the new modern NRG Stadium opened next door in 2002.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated people in New Orleans, the empty Astrodome served as a shelter to 25,000 displaced victims. After that tragedy, the Astrodome has sat empty for the past 14 years with its future still in limbo.

The Avanhard Stadium in Pripyat, Ukraine was once home to the FC Stroitel Pripyat, a Soviet soccer club made up of a group of local workers. Located in a young and growing city, the stadium could hold 5,000 people.

In 1986, the Chernobyl plant in Pripyat exploded causing all the people living within an 18-mile radius of the plant to relocate. The nuclear explosion made the area completely unlivable due to the high levels of radiation.

The abandoned stadium still stands today though its structure is crumbling and trees have taken over. The grandstands are easily visible, but the field is nearly unrecognizable. Due to the nuclear blast, the area is unlivable for about 150 years, so the stadium won't be repaired any time soon.

Once the biggest stadium in Czechoslovakia, Stadion za Luzankami was the home to the FC Zbrojovka Brno soccer team since its opening in 1953. In 2002, the football club left for a new stadium, so Stadion za Luzankami sat vacant for many years.

After years of neglect, plants took over the stands and fields, while people experiencing homelessness started living in the stadium.

Thirteen years after the stadium closed its doors, a member of the original football club pulled together one last match to serve as a final goodbye to the old stadium. On June 27, 2015, the stadium was restored enough to host the game and welcome over 35,000 people and plans were made for a new one in its place, but those plans appear to be stalled.

When cities are chosen to host the Olympics, they begin constructing huge stadiums to accommodate this worldwide event. The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics were no different.

Chaoyang Park held an Olympic Ferris wheel and the giant beach volleyball court. The court holds 17,000 tons of sand and can fit 12,000 people. After the Olympics ended, the training grounds have been used for a beach festival each year.

Since then, the world-famous beach volleyball court was only used for its intended purpose once more. In 2012, the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground hosted the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, which is a worldwide professional tour.

Cathkin Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland was the home to the Third Lanark football club for 95 years. In its glory, the stadium held 20,000 fans for its soccer games. Due to bankruptcy, both the team and the stadium were permanently closed in 1967.

Today, the mostly abandoned stadium is located in a public park where people can still enjoy the open fields. It's not uncommon to see amateur soccer teams playing on the field, where the Third Lanark football club used to play.

Miami Marine Stadium, which was constructed in 1963, hosted everything from powerboat races to Sunday church services, and concerts. It seated almost 7,000.

After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the city declared it unsafe and it was closed for good. It went into disrepair and became covered in graffiti, so the city was about to demolish it, until notable Miami residents and the National Trust for Historic Preservation rallied to save it.

In 2012, the city approved a plan that would clean up the stadium and in 2018, as Business Insider reported, the city approved $42 million in funding to establish a park around the stadium and to repair it.