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As a swelling city built on a swamp, Houston owes much of its prosperity to those who envisioned what it would become. Allen Becker is one of the famous Houstonians who saw the potential for growth and facilitated that growth in a way that benefits Houstonians today.
A live entertainment entrepreneur, Becker had the vision to host events in the city more than half a century ago. By doing this, he made Houston bigger. Becker knew the value of a big show, so he started with a big show at the Astrodome, the massive indoor venue that has made the city a center of urban growth.
Becker, co-founder of PACE Entertainment and ACE Theatrical Group, died with his family at his home in Houston on December 12. He is 90 years old.
Becker’s career offers a variation on the old “dream place” concept, “If you build it, they’ll come.” He knows that the right space for the right event can prove to be a thriving cultural and financial enterprise .
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Roy Hofheinz, a legendary cultural figure, owned and executed a vision to bring sports like baseball and football indoors in Houston, an initiative in a The marshes proved necessary as racing can be an unpleasant experience during the summer months. But the broader success of Hofheinz’s vision owes much to Becker, who saw more opportunity at the Astrodome.
Becker liberated a venue associated with sporting events and made it a year-round venue for events.
Becker — an inductee of the Texas Business Hall of Fame — envisioned the Astrodome as more than just a place where teams from different sports teams could compete. Instead, he saw a space where those with common interests could come together, not related to sports. The mega-event that Becker envisions is similar to the ubiquitous comic-related events we see today.
filled dome
A Houston native, Becker graduated from the University of Texas and served in the Air Force before earning a graduate degree at Southern Methodist University.
An insurance salesman in the early 1960s, Becker formed a partnership with his friend, the banker Sidney Shlenker. The pair started events company PACE in 1966.
The Dome’s Houston Boat Show was an immediate success, demonstrating the large audience available for a variety of entertainment and cultural events. Their boat show pioneered all kinds of events in Houston in the late 20th century: monster truck and tractor hauling, boat shows, supercrosses and concerts.
They have also attracted the attention of other markets looking to replicate their success. When the Superdome opened in New Orleans in 1975, it contacted PACE to book 20 shows for the grand opening, including performances by Bob Hope, the Temptations and the Allman Brothers Band.
“It seemed like a good opportunity,” Becker told The Spacedome Chronicle. He sees other venues the same way, including The Summit in Houston.
The concert became the main driving force for Becker and PACE. By the mid-1970s, Becker’s partnership with promoter Louis Messina, PACE Concerts, was a company bringing major tours to Houston, including Who’s famous tour in 1975.
The company expanded its presence in live entertainment beyond the band to include Broadway shows, pioneering the process of bringing established Broadway musical productions to the show. The touring musical production was certainly a money-making endeavor, but it also represented Becker’s adoration of Broadway.
“PACE Theatrical revitalized and advanced an unstable and chaotic travel industry,” said Becker’s son, Brian Becker. He also noted that PACE Theatrical has helped restore struggling historic theaters across the country.
Becker’s model proved to be an influential one across the country. With roots in New York and Los Angeles, PACE is a third cost company that dominates the industry on both sides of the strait. Its roots are no coincidence: Becker is an alumnus of San Jacinto High School in Houston and the University of Texas at Austin.
“People always ask, ‘What are you doing in Houston?'” he told the Chronicle. “Well, because . . . no matter how much I like other cities, no matter how much business we do there, Houston is my home and I feel comfortable here.”
Set new PACE
Under Becker’s leadership, PACE became the largest privately held entertainment company in 1998, with activities in 26 cities. Although PACE has opened outposts elsewhere, its operations remain in the city where Becker was born.
“With offices on every coast and abroad, people often question why PACE’s headquarters remain in Houston,” said Becker’s son, Gary Becker. “Father’s firm answer is simple. Houston is home.”
Even though he has no financial ties to the Astrodome, Becker remains the site’s protector. “It shouldn’t have been completely demolished,” he told The Chronicle while discussing the dome’s fate. “I was hoping to find a way to keep a part of it, and it had to be some kind of entertainment.”
But the savvy businessman admits, “At the moment I have not found a viable way to exploit it.”
During PACE’s heyday in 1998, Becker sold the company to SFX, which was subsequently acquired by Clear Channel. But at ACE Theatrical, he continues to work with beautiful historic theaters such as the Saenger and Mahalia Jackson Theaters in New Orleans, the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, and the Kings Theater in Brooklyn. In 2016, he was also involved with the launch of the Sugar Land Smart Financial Center with his son, which was sold two years later.
By then, the live events industry had hit the jackpot. But the prototype that Becker and PACE built in the 1960s still exists. Their foresight on the scale of events proved to be ahead of their time.
Becker is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Brian and Norelle Becker. Gary and Amy Becker; daughter and son-in-law Sunni and Gary Markowitz; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Becker’s wife of 54 years, Shirley, died in 2008.
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