Between Bigelow and Ruskin on Fifth Ave across street from Cathedral

[Sean Miller Fan]

Pitt owns all that land except for the PAA, Holiday Inn, and a small UPMC Medical office building.

$100 million easily buys those 3 buildings and buys out the Hyatt's lease for their planned hotel behind the PAA.

Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall would have to go but you can also tear down the ugly Music Building and IS Building and build 1 or 2 newer, larger buildings on those grounds to get back the lost classroom/office space from losing Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall. Would be sad to see Alumni Hall go but its for the greater good. Athletics is the "front porch" as Barnes says and can you imagine the visuals ESPN would show on a beautiful October afternoon like students tailgating on the Cathedral lawn. If you want to raise Pitt's overall profile, you find the money and do it.

There you go.

Puny little BC is raising $200 million. Pitt can easily, easily raise double that. Hopefully we have people brave enough to try.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Update: After google mapping the site and Rutgers's stadium (which I think is about the size we'd do), we may not have to tear down Clapp, Langley, and Crawford. This is because there would be an open endzone facing Soldiers and Sailors to provide a great view of Oakland and people can watch from the Soldiers and Sailors lawn which is raised a little or from rooftops in Oakland like Wrigley. Would be so cool.

Anyone know how I can get my screen shots from my phone to this link?

 

[paulbl99]

Update: After google mapping the site and Rutgers's stadium (which I think is about the size we'd do), we may not have to tear down Clapp, Langley, and Crawford. This is because there would be an open endzone facing Soldiers and Sailors to provide a great view of Oakland and people can watch from the Soldiers and Sailors lawn which is raised a little or from rooftops in Oakland like Wrigley. Would be so cool.

Anyone know how I can get my screen shots from my phone to this link?

Try turning your phone into the FBI and see what it can do......

For a place w no space Pitt now has about 7 football stadiums
Jeez

 

[NTOP]

Pitt owns all that land except for the PAA, Holiday Inn, and a small UPMC Medical office building.

$100 million easily buys those 3 buildings and buys out the Hyatt's lease for their planned hotel behind the PAA.

Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall would have to go but you can also tear down the ugly Music Building and IS Building and build 1 or 2 newer, larger buildings on those grounds to get back the lost classroom/office space from losing Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall. Would be sad to see Alumni Hall go but its for the greater good. Athletics is the "front porch" as Barnes says and can you imagine the visuals ESPN would show on a beautiful October afternoon like students tailgating on the Cathedral lawn. If you want to raise Pitt's overall profile, you find the money and do it.

There you go.

Puny little BC is raising $200 million. Pitt can easily, easily raise double that. Hopefully we have people brave enough to try.

Has BC raised the cash?? How far behind are they?? We've spent lots of money on facilities in the last 15 years or so. You should realize that fundraising goals are frequently adjusted down, or the campaign "period" extended. And Pitt's new admin. hasn't done anything substantial yet.....expecting excellence in that area might very well be premature. I can't imagine results as bad as SP's regime, but who knows.
The big impediment is that the numbers don't work. If we succeed under Duzz and get over the 60K mark for tix SOLD all the time, how is it smart to build a 45K stadium on campus?? If you raise prices so tix revenue is the same, you're still out the $400 million or more in costs + upkeep. Better to pay nominal rent and avoid the costs of ownership. I laugh at those who think Tepper will cough up a big chunk for a Stadium. Does he go to games?? Did he go to games while here??
I'd love an on-campus stadium, but wouldn't support an admin. that dumb.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

I remember as a student going into the PAA for the first time. When I saw that pool in there I laughed long and hard. It was so out of place to me. Great building and a PITTsburgh Landmark.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Has BC raised the cash?? How far behind are they??

No, they haven't but they are brave enough to say "Here is some irrelevant crap that we want to do, but we are going to raise $200 million anyway." That's bold and daring. And if they do raise $200 million for a student rec center (when they already have one) and olympic sports fields, I know Pitt can raise a lot more than that for a project most Pitt fans are passionate about.

And for the billionth time. Colleges DO build new stadiums. Every year or 2 there's a new one.

 

[NTOP]

No, they haven't but they are brave enough to say "Here is some irrelevant crap that we want to do, but we are going to raise $200 million anyway." That's bold and daring. And if they do raise $200 million for a student rec center (when they already have one) and olympic sports fields, I know Pitt can raise a lot more than that for a project most Pitt fans are passionate about.

And for the billionth time. Colleges DO build new stadiums. Every year or 2 there's a new one.

Well, Baylor doesn't have a pro stadium in Waco. B.C. has a nice little stadium on campus....that they rarely fill. They probably have needs that they've neglected. Conte Forum and the FB stadium will probably get some paint and not much else. $200 million in Beantown doesn't do that much.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Well, Baylor doesn't have a pro stadium in Waco. B.C. has a nice little stadium on campus....that they rarely fill. They probably have needs that they've neglected. Conte Forum and the FB stadium will probably get some paint and not much else. $200 million in Beantown doesn't do that much.

Baylor had better than that. Their own on-campus stadium! They may be the only school in the nation with 2 on-campus football stadiums! Their old one is still there.

Baylor had a crappy football team but they wanted to better the program so they went out and raised money and built a new stadium......even though they already had one. Football is important.

 

[ratking17]

Pitt should buy cmu while they are at it. Put the stadium next to a newer and bigger Cathedral

 

[PSU_Nut]

Baylor had better than that. Their own on-campus stadium! They may be the only school in the nation with 2 on-campus football stadiums! Their old one is still there.

Baylor had a crappy football team but they wanted to better the program so they went out and raised money and built a new stadium......even though they already had one. Football is important.

Baylor's old stadium was 4 miles from campus and is currently being demolished. Having an on campus stadium was one of the driving factors to build a new one.

 

[Saboteur]

Pitt owns all that land except for the PAA, Holiday Inn, and a small UPMC Medical office building.

$100 million easily buys those 3 buildings and buys out the Hyatt's lease for their planned hotel behind the PAA.

Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall would have to go but you can also tear down the ugly Music Building and IS Building and build 1 or 2 newer, larger buildings on those grounds to get back the lost classroom/office space from losing Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall. Would be sad to see Alumni Hall go but its for the greater good. Athletics is the "front porch" as Barnes says and can you imagine the visuals ESPN would show on a beautiful October afternoon like students tailgating on the Cathedral lawn. If you want to raise Pitt's overall profile, you find the money and do it.

There you go.

Puny little BC is raising $200 million. Pitt can easily, easily raise double that. Hopefully we have people brave enough to try.

But the money in Boston is not "puny".

 

[burnie1105]

The fact you want to tear down six campus buildings (three of which are historical properties) to build a football stadium is utterly deranged. Beyond the fact that it would never happen (good luck tearing down contributing properties to Schenley Farms), it is disgusting that you would prioritize a stadium so much. You seriously need to reexamine your priorities in life if you think Pitt should tear down 1/4th of its campus and spend hundreds of millions to play football in Oakland.

 

[ThePanthers]

I think Pitt should buy the land from Oakland to the North shore so Heinz will officially be their on campus stadium.

If BC can play catch up, Pitt can easily guy out the city of Pittsburgh!

 

[Swervin27]

I think Pitt should buy the land from Oakland to the North shore so Heinz will officially be their on campus stadium.

If BC can play catch up, Pitt can easily guy out the city of Pittsburgh!

well it costs 10 million dollars for a parking lot in Oakland, what would it cost to buy 75% of the city of Pittsburgh? Maybe Tepper can help out, tell him we'll give 25% of the city to CMU

 

[ThePanthers]

well it costs 10 million dollars for a parking lot in Oakland, what would it cost to buy 75% of the city of Pittsburgh? Maybe Tepper can help out, tell him we'll give 25% of the city to CMU

Agree. Tepper will take care of most of this. Most of that land between Oakland and downtown Pittsburgh are slums, so it shouldn't be that expensive.

LET'S GO PITT!

 

[Ski11585]

Pitt owns all that land except for the PAA, Holiday Inn, and a small UPMC Medical office building.

$100 million easily buys those 3 buildings and buys out the Hyatt's lease for their planned hotel behind the PAA.

Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall would have to go but you can also tear down the ugly Music Building and IS Building and build 1 or 2 newer, larger buildings on those grounds to get back the lost classroom/office space from losing Clapp, Langley, Crawford, and Alumni Hall. Would be sad to see Alumni Hall go but its for the greater good. Athletics is the "front porch" as Barnes says and can you imagine the visuals ESPN would show on a beautiful October afternoon like students tailgating on the Cathedral lawn. If you want to raise Pitt's overall profile, you find the money and do it.

There you go.

Puny little BC is raising $200 million. Pitt can easily, easily raise double that. Hopefully we have people brave enough to try.

Yeah, there is absolutely no way Pitt is tearing down the Music Building. Like, 0%. This is arguably one of the stupidest things you've ever posted.

Just stop.

 

[burgerczar]

I have asked these questions several times and will ask again:

What will building an on campus stadium accomplish?

Better attendance? We don't need a study to find out if that's true. We had an on campus stadium for decades and saw some of our worst attendance at Pitt Stadium.

Better game day atmosphere? I've been going to Pitt games since the 1970's, and some of the best game day experiences I've witness have occurred at Heinz Field. The best game day atmosphere I ever experienced was at Heinz Field in 2003 against VT.

To get better recruits? The last recruiting cycle was the best we've had in years. Miami has been getting great recruits for decades playing in a pro stadium. And what about the experience of sharing facilties with the Steelers? Will that be affected if we build an on campus stadium?

Can someone tell me what building an on campus stadium will accomplish?

Until someone can give me a good reason to move forward, in my opinion, we should focus our resources elsewhere.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The fact you want to tear down six campus buildings (three of which are historical properties) to build a football stadium is utterly deranged. Beyond the fact that it would never happen (good luck tearing down contributing properties to Schenley Farms), it is disgusting that you would prioritize a stadium so much. You seriously need to reexamine your priorities in life if you think Pitt should tear down 1/4th of its campus and spend hundreds of millions to play football in Oakland.

Read my posts. I said after google mapping it, the block that contains Langley, Crawford, and Clapp stays as is. The only campus building that gets torn down is Alumni Hall. Sad to lose the beautiful building but its a cost of doing business. The PAA, UPMC Medical Office Building, and Holiday Inn would be bought and demolished.

So, that's losing 1 campus building, not 6.....and if need be, you could probably figure a way to shoehorn the stadium in, keeping Alumni Hall.

 

[Swervin27]

Agree. Tepper will take care of most of this. Most of that land between Oakland and downtown Pittsburgh are slums, so it shouldn't be that expensive.

LET'S GO PITT!

How bout we just focus on the lan

I have asked these questions several times and will ask again:

What will building an on campus stadium accomplish?

Better attendance? We don't need a study to find out if that's true. We had an on campus stadium for decades and saw some of our worst attendance at Pitt Stadium.

Better game day atmosphere? I've been going to Pitt games since the 1970's, and some of the best game day experiences I've witness have occurred at Heinz Field. The best game day atmosphere I ever experienced was at Heinz Field in 2003 against VT.

To get better recruits? The last recruiting cycle was the best we've had in years. Miami has been getting great recruits for decades playing in a pro stadium. And what about the experience of sharing facilties with the Steelers? Will that be affected if we build an on campus stadium?

Can someone tell me what building an on campus stadium will accomplish?

Until someone can give me a good reason to move forward, in my opinion, we should focus our resources elsewhere.

a much better game experience, more of a college feel, no doubt about it. Attendance and recruiting, probably a small bump at first but nothing dramatic.. A home they can call their own instead of playing second fiddle to the steelers and in rare cases, the buccos..

Reason enough to spend 1/2 billion dollars, to make my Saturdays more enjoyable? I say yes, of course it's not my money..

 

[Fk_Pitt]

How bout we just focus on the lan

a much better game experience, more of a college feel, no doubt about it. Attendance and recruiting, probably a small bump at first but nothing dramatic.. A home they can call their own instead of playing second fiddle to the steelers and in rare cases, the buccos..

Reason enough to spend 1/2 billion dollars, to make my Saturdays more enjoyable? I say yes, of course it's not my money..

Enjoyable Saturday? Let's hope it remains enjoyable because it will take the entire day away from those who attend when you factor getting in and out of Oakland. I love the idea of spending the entire day partying, etc...but filling the stadium every week with 40-45K will be tough to do because most people's lives do not have room to set aside 12 hours for a 4 hour in stadium experience.

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

I bet all the 1%ers living in Schenley farms would love the idea of 40,000 people roaming around their neighborhood trying to find free on street parking on gamedays

 

[Swervin27]

I bet all the 1%ers living in Schenley farms would love the idea of 40,000 people roaming around their neighborhood trying to find free on street parking on gamedays

well God forbid we upset the schenley farm residents..

 

[9nationalchampionships]

And relieving themselves in their yards! I can’t see that the Syria Mosque land purchase is anything more than adding to the university’s academic buildings.

I bet all the 1%ers living in Schenley farms would love the idea of 40,000 people roaming around their neighborhood trying to find free on street parking on gamedays

 

[Swervin27]

Enjoyable Saturday? Let's hope it remains enjoyable because it will take the entire day away from those who attend when you factor getting in and out of Oakland. I love the idea of spending the entire day partying, etc...but filling the stadium every week with 40-45K will be tough to do because most people's lives do not have room to set aside 12 hours for a 4 hour in stadium experience.

12 hours to get in and out of Oakland?? Great post fk..

Regarding your post though, there is a debate between the crowd that prioritizes convenience and accessibility vs. the "game day on campus" crowd.. Think a lot of it is strongly correlated with age.. As appealing as a stadium in Oakland is to the younger crowd, it's clear that the "I want to be on my couch 12 minutes after the game is over" crowd wants no parts of Oakland.

Personally, I go to a game I consider it an event so I want all the bells and whistles.. I spend enough time on my couch, I am in no need to hurry back home, but that's just me.. I've been to sporting events in venues surrounde by concrete deserts (Dodger stadium) and I've been to sporting events that have little parking but surrounded by bars, restaurants (Wrigley, old yankee stadium) and I choose the latter every time.. Love walking out of a game and right across street is a large gathering of people hanging out, pounding watered down domestic pilsner out of plastic cups to terrible live music (no exaggeration). That gives it great ambience.. But again, that's just me..

 

[Fk_Pitt]

12 hours to get in and out of Oakland?? Great post fk..

Not sure if you were being sarcastic. But I was. The real point is that everyone wants to shoe horn a stadium into Oakland, spend the money, without having the infrastructure to support it.

One reason why I have season tix for basketball is because it's a two hour game, and I can generally get in and out quickly. Not sure how easy it would be for 4X the folks going to a football stadium.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Enjoyable Saturday? Let's hope it remains enjoyable because it will take the entire day away from those who attend when you factor getting in and out of Oakland. I love the idea of spending the entire day partying, etc...but filling the stadium every week with 40-45K will be tough to do because most people's lives do not have room to set aside 12 hours for a 4 hour in stadium experience.

How do 100,000 people get out of Columbus at the same time? Ann Arbor, Knoxville, Tuscaloosa? No traffic in those places? How do 80K get out of PSU at the same time?

I find it amazing that 100K people or so commute to or through Oakland every weekday between 7 and 9 and 4 to 6 and somehow make it to where they need to be and people act like parking and traffic is too tough to accommodate 45K people on a Saturday.

 

[Swervin27]

How do 100,000 people get out of Columbus at the same time? Ann Arbor, Knoxville, Tuscaloosa? No traffic in those places? How do 80K get out of PSU at the same time?

I find it amazing that 100K people or so commute to or through Oakland every weekday between 7 and 9 and 4 to 6 and somehow make it to where they need to be and people act like parking and traffic is too tough to accommodate 45K people on a Saturday.

Go to a tennesse game, it will take you literally 8 hours to get out of Knoxville. I'd compare it to getting stuck in the last field at Starlake and trying to get out after a Dave Matthews COncert (circa 1994; before he started playing bigger venues)

 

[UPitt129]

How do 100,000 people get out of Columbus at the same time? Ann Arbor, Knoxville, Tuscaloosa? No traffic in those places? How do 80K get out of PSU at the same time?

I find it amazing that 100K people or so commute to or through Oakland every weekday between 7 and 9 and 4 to 6 and somehow make it to where they need to be and people act like parking and traffic is too tough to accommodate 45K people on a Saturday.

That is such a lie. 100k are not commuting into Oakland in a two hour period.

 

[Swervin27]

Pittsburghers seem to just hate the idea of traffic more than anyone on the planet.. If you go to a sporting event, you are gonna hit traffic.. It happens, it's part of life.. People in every other part of the country seem to get along with this, why is it so horrible to us? People want to go to game but not wait in lines, want to see their team first hand but want to be home on their couch as soon as the game ends (explains our love for leaving early). Folks, I want my cake and to eat it too but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.. Is it really that terrible?

People talk about this nightmare that is going to a pitt basketball game with regards to traffic. Is it really that horrible? I've been to many games, I don't recall this nightmare.. Go early, grab a beer at Fuel, park a couple blocks away and walk, there is a hill I know and walking a 1/4 mile or a 1/2 mile isn't fun but it won't kill you, I swear to the lord above this will not kill you.. It's ok to get out from the comfort of your house, to expand your proverbial comfort zone.. Your house is boring, there isn't anything on tv, your wife and kids don't miss you that much, relax on the hurry to get back to your boring meaningless lives, it will be there no matter if there is traffic or not..

 

[UPitt129]

Pittsburghers seem to just hate the idea of traffic more than anyone on the planet.. If you go to a sporting event, you are gonna hit traffic.. It happens, it's part of life.. People in every other part of the country seem to get along with this, why is it so horrible to us? People want to go to game but not wait in lines, want to see their team first hand but want to be home on their couch as soon as the game ends (explains our love for leaving early). Folks, I want my cake and to eat it too but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.. Is it really that terrible?

I am ok with traffic...just not with the cluster Oakland would be after the game. Not to mention there is not nearly enough parking.

If pitt moved to Oakland, I probably would not buy tickets anymore.

 

[NTOP]

How bout we just focus on the lan

a much better game experience, more of a college feel, no doubt about it. Attendance and recruiting, probably a small bump at first but nothing dramatic.. A home they can call their own instead of playing second fiddle to the steelers and in rare cases, the buccos..

Reason enough to spend 1/2 billion dollars, to make my Saturdays more enjoyable? I say yes, of course it's not my money..

How do we INCREASE attendance in a 50K stadium?? Or do we just move psu/ND or wvu to HF, where we should certainly average over 50K??? The numbers don't work. They haven't since Pitt allowed the Stadium to fall apart.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

For the ACC to grow they need to lessen the Cackalcky references

 

[ThePanthers]

Folks, I want my cake and to eat it too but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.. Is it really that terrible?
.

So why not deal with the current home at Heinz instead of always talking about an on campus stadium?

 

[Swervin27]

So why not deal with the current home at Heinz instead of always talking about an on campus stadium?

what do you mean "deal" with Heinz? I do deal with it, just think it could be better. I am not protesting outside the stadium or anything. We are just having a debate about Heinz vs. on campus stadium, some like it, some don't.. Pitt football will continue to exist regardless of our opinions of accessibility, tailgating and parking spaces..

 

[HailtoPitt]

Read my posts. I said after google mapping it, the block that contains Langley, Crawford, and Clapp stays as is. The only campus building that gets torn down is Alumni Hall. Sad to lose the beautiful building but its a cost of doing business. The PAA, UPMC Medical Office Building, and Holiday Inn would be bought and demolished.

So, that's losing 1 campus building, not 6.....and if need be, you could probably figure a way to shoehorn the stadium in, keeping Alumni Hall.

The footprint covered by the parking lot, the UPMC office building and the hotel would be enough space for a modest stadium. No need to tear down the PAA or Alumni Hall. In fact the PAA could benefit from being right next to the stadium.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Has BC raised the cash?? How far behind are they?? We've spent lots of money on facilities in the last 15 years or so. You should realize that fundraising goals are frequently adjusted down, or the campaign "period" extended. And Pitt's new admin. hasn't done anything substantial yet.....expecting excellence in that area might very well be premature. I can't imagine results as bad as SP's regime, but who knows.
The big impediment is that the numbers don't work. If we succeed under Duzz and get over the 60K mark for tix SOLD all the time, how is it smart to build a 45K stadium on campus?? If you raise prices so tix revenue is the same, you're still out the $400 million or more in costs + upkeep. Better to pay nominal rent and avoid the costs of ownership. I laugh at those who think Tepper will cough up a big chunk for a Stadium. Does he go to games?? Did he go to games while here??
I'd love an on-campus stadium, but wouldn't support an admin. that dumb.

I find it interesting that you and/or Paco quickly respond to the stadium topics. If it is never going to happen in our lifetimes, then why so interested?

And to play devil's advocate, fundraising goals are often met and increased, so it goes both ways.

 

[NTOP]

I find it interesting that you and/or Paco quickly respond to the stadium topics. If it is never going to happen in our lifetimes, then why so interested?

And to play devil's advocate, fundraising goals are often met and increased, so it goes both ways.

I'm SP's best friend.

 

[HailtoPitt]

I'm SP's best friend.

Souf.. not pleased with the demotion!

 

[Jpripper88]

Go to a tennesse game, it will take you literally 8 hours to get out of Knoxville. I'd compare it to getting stuck in the last field at Starlake and trying to get out after a Dave Matthews COncert (circa 1994; before he started playing bigger venues)

Exaggeration, but true that it can be awful getting in and out of SEC campuses for games. The difference? They care.

 

[Swervin27]

Exaggeration, but true that it can be awful getting in and out of SEC campuses for games. The difference? They care.

agree, they don't care because the game is an event unlike old people in Pittsburgh who consider it something to do for 3 hours between their kids soccer games and Saturday evening television.. Hence the priority to have easy access to/from games..