My O.C. Stadium Proposal

[DC_Area_Panther]

Well to be fair to those people, they don't care about anything except whether a football stadium can physically fit in a space in Oakland so they go there a few times per year. What happens at Trees, Cost Field, Fitzgerald, the soccer field, softball field, and the OC Lot doesn't concern them much, but it's precisely why any plan there will stall out.

Fitzgerald could be spared in the plan, possibly the softball and soccer field too (if you shoehorn the stadium into that space), but then there is zero space to not only replace the OC Lot parking, but no area to add parking either. It would be a tall task to replace Trees Hall (and all of its activities and services) somewhere close to campus too, I suspect.

Maybe some anonymous multi-billoinaire Pitt donor will pay to have a state of the art stadium built on stilts in air space above the Cost Center with a maglev train service delivering park-ers and tailgaters from a massive parking/tailgating area either deep in Panther hollow or down along the Mon. We can all keep dreaming.

There was nothing special about playing in Oakland other than the nasty traffic crawl up and down Bates street or the immediate access to the Oakland bars if you were a student.

 

[htp123]

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

The most rational, unemotional, non-name calling discussion of an OCS on any message board.

 

[RocPanther11]

It's safe to say that everyone on here wants to see Panther football return to Oakland. The only problem is how? We've heard many ideas: relocate the Frick Fine Arts building, build on the OC lot, build where the current VA Hospital site, nestle a stadium in between the OC lot and The Pete, and tear down the Quad, among others. Some of them are impractical, others are a long shot. All of them, however, have three common complaints:
1) Not enough space to construct a Power 5 stadium
2) Getting in and out of the stadium and Oakland
3) Gameday parking

Obviously I'm not as educated on the campus and its surrounding lands like some of you, but after doing my best attempt at an architectural study, I determined that South Oakland would be the best site for a new on-campus stadium, specifically the land that is between the Boulevard of the Allies and I-376 going north/south and Bates Street and the Panther Hollow train tracks going east/west. This would involve purchasing houses, a few restaurants and businesses, and a playground.

This land would have all three of the common complaints in mind:
1) There would be large enough to construct a 50,000+ seat stadium that would look the part of a Power 5, ACC football stadium. I used Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium as an example and it would fit perfectly into the slot, with enough room for all of the first-class amenities you could ask for and parking around the stadium, which is apart of problem #3
2) The stadium would be accessible by I-376, as you could easily build an exit ramp onto the site. Additionally, the proposed Oakland Transit Connector route would come right near the stadium and would provide another way of getting into Oakland on gamedays.
3) As stated in #1, using the TCF Bank Stadium site as an example, there would be plenty of room to construct of parking spaces around the stadium. In Minnesota, there is enough room for three parking lots around the stadium.

In addition to this, the proposed stadium would be nearby the proposed Almono Development Site which would provide a perfect place to go to before and after games and would not require any re-routing of any roads or streets. Also, since it would not take up any space in Upper Campus, the University could still use that space to construct new athletic and academic facilities, such as the OC Lot or the former Cost Field land. It could also set off a boom in the rest of Oakland, leading to the re-development of much of Central Oakland and the Oakland Square Historic District. This could all come together to create the perfect on-campus gameday experience. One of the only problems I think this would have is coming too close to the railroad tracks, but I think you could implement something like the Twins did at Target Field where you build platforms over the tracks, along both to run smoothly while not interfering with each other.

This is a very vague idea and probably has a lot more flaws than I could think of (such as having to purchase a large chunk of land and getting rid of a very big and old neighborhood), but I just wanted to throw this out there to see what you guys think of it. Hopefully this can lead to some good discussion and new ideas on how we could get football back in Oakland one day.

Hail to Pitt and beat Syracuse!

I'm surprised not one person mentioned the fact that this is in the neighborhood Dan Marino grew up in. Pretty much right over his childhood home. Maybe we could name it Dan Marino Stadium?

 

[quip]

Have basketball play at PPPaints for a while tear down the Pete build a multi purpose 50,000 seat football, basketball plus other activities stadium on former site of Pitt stadium, similar to Syracuse but much better. Pitt already owns the property

The dumbest idea I have heard yet!

 

[mvk112]

I'm surprised not one person mentioned the fact that this is in the neighborhood Dan Marino grew up in. Pretty much right over his childhood home. Maybe we could name it Dan Marino Stadium?

I don't think many people think it's a realistic option. That's a neighborhood with hundreds of homes, not just student slum housing.

 

[CorsosRevenge]

A conclusion in spite of the heartbreaking memories of metal bleachers and piss troughs of some alums.

If you sit in the 500 level you still have these things.

 

[Panther Al]

Happy Thanksgiving to all Panther fans! Its very apparent that outside of Steeler fans (I know a few who want out of Heinz for Pitt) that Pitt deserves its own on campus building especially if we want to take things to the next level. I'm extremely encouraged by Coach Duzz/coaching staff and feel this is the best coaching staff since I went to Pitt in 1991. A win vs Cuse and a bowl win would mean another step in the right direction. Stadium is the missing piece of the pie. H2P! Heinz Field MUST go!

 

[eastcoasthoops]

You know that Heinz has piss troughs also? They must have installed them to make old time Pitt fans feel right at home. Unfortunately, the psychology failed.

Yeah, but the troughs at Heinz are freaking space age compared to the cast-iron bathtubs that Pitt Stadium had. Maybe I should have said "adorable mounds of dirt under the stands". Yes, that's what I really miss. The smell of ancient stale dirt air. Ahhhhhhh...the memories.

Until someone proves to me there were 20,000 fans last week who stayed at home because the game was held at Heinz and not a fictional pitch off Fifth or Forbes, I will continue to shake my head at these dreams. The Oakland Stadium truthers are nearly the same as the Paterno truthers. Desperately feeling the phantom pains of something that is long gone and has NOTHING to do with the current state of football.

Maybe we need to build a Pitt Stadium Statue at Heinz and then the OCS Healing will finally have begun.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Yeah, but the troughs at Heinz are freaking space age compared to the cast-iron bathtubs that Pitt Stadium had.

Why didn't Pitt ever remodel the bathrooms? People act as if that were an impossible task.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

Why didn't Pitt ever remodel the bathrooms? People act as if that were an impossible task.

Are you serious? Remodeling the bathrooms at Pitt Stadium would have been like putting lipstick on a pig.

Just stop man.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Are you serious? Remodeling the bathrooms at Pitt Stadium would have been like putting lipstick on a pig.

Just stop man.

Maybe, but people complain about the troughs like it was the worst feature. Not hard to remedy that issue if it were a problem.

 

[cbpitt2]

You can't have everything you want, exactly the way you want it! A Carrier dome-like place where the Pete is would be great! They would figure out some way to open (and close) parts of it and let air in when the weather is nice, maybe giant openings on both ends, and when the weather's bad, you won't need parkas or rain gear, it wouldn't be bad at all IMO.. First you want to get on campus, after tarping seats doesn't happen, now you're worried about basketball atmosphere? C'mon, this is the only option where you don't have to demolish half of Oakland.

Pitt could host the NCAA Final Four!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Well to be fair to those people, they don't care about anything except whether a football stadium can physically fit in a space in Oakland so they go there a few times per year. What happens at Trees, Cost Field, Fitzgerald, the soccer field, softball field, and the OC Lot doesn't concern them much, but it's precisely why any plan there will stall out.

Fitzgerald could be spared in the plan, possibly the softball and soccer field too (if you shoehorn the stadium into that space), but then there is zero space to not only replace the OC Lot parking, but no area to add parking either. It would be a tall task to replace Trees Hall (and all of its activities and services) somewhere close to campus too, I suspect.

I don't know how many people have ever been up there or have paid much attention to the topography up there, but the other issue is that from the top of the OC lot to the field level of the baseball field has to be at least a 100 foot drop. I mean the edge of the OC lot is essentially a cliff. The amount of excavation work just to get a flat lot that you could build on would be enormous. Not that it couldn't be done, but just that part of the job alone would be ridiculously expensive.

But keep in mind, our favorite purveyor of links to a third grader's rendering of the stadium has said that they wouldn't need to do any work like that at all, that they could build the whole stadium on the flat where the OC lot is. Which tells you the mentality of some people on this issue.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Why didn't Pitt ever remodel the bathrooms? People act as if that were an impossible task.

Its not!
If PITT leadership wanted an on campus stadium it would exist or in progress!
Professional design and construction companies would design and have this up in no time on an appropriate site which would be up to PITT to provide.
I'm sure there are appropriate site options but without PITT leadership pushing this it will never happen.
And in the meantime sites that do make sense will be converted to other uses by forward thinking people leaving PITT in the dust!

 

[beiglepanther]

Make Trump build it.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Make Trump build it.

It would be done in short order!
He completed some projects in NYC in record time after he took them over from the city who had be working on them ( and failing) for years!
Doubt he would be interested and I realize that was scarcism.
But if an on campus stadium is in the future that's what has to happen. Get a developer to acquire the land, civil and construction engineers and get to it!
Oh yea and some funding from PITT!
PITT doesnt do much thinking out of the box so this is a real long shot!

 

[Las Panteras]

Except that the highest and best use of any site in oakland would always be something other than a football stadium......

 

[Delpanther]

Except that the highest and best use of any site in oakland would always be something other than a football stadium......

Blah, blah..., Nerdy

 

[CaptainMurphy]

Nippert at Cinicinatti is wedged into a small space between campus buildings with only 40K seats. Anyone who has been there will tell you it is an incredible space for a game and has been labeled the Wrigley of college football. Extend their upper deck around the entire horseshoe and add a 5000 seat grandstand in the open end and you are easily between 50 and 55K seats. Add 5 rows around the entire upper deck and you could be pushing 60K.

If they can fit their stadium into such a small, confined space, I think Pitt will eventually find space for at least something similar.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Nippert at Cinicinatti is wedged into a small space between campus buildings with only 40K seats. Anyone who has been there will tell you it is an incredible space for a game and has been labeled the Wrigley of college football. Extend their upper deck around the entire horseshoe and add a 5000 seat grandstand in the open end and you are easily between 50 and 55K seats. Add 5 rows around the entire upper deck and you could be peetushing 60K.

If they can fit their stadium into such a small, confined space, I think Pitt will eventually find space for at least something similar.

Cincinnati's stadium is 600 feet long by 550 feet wide. Minnesota's is 1000 feet by 750 feet. Obviously, Cincy's is much smaller size-wise but it also has considerably fewer seats.

Either way, there has to be a way to construct a 45K-50K seat stadium on a plot of land that Pitt buys that is about 700 to 800 feet long by 600 to 700 feet wide. A way to accomplish this would be to have a 3 deck stadium with each deck hanging over 10-15 rows of the deck below. That might be a cool design but also provide shelter from the rain for half the seats.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

has been labeled the Wrigley of college football.

How big an idiot would someone have to be to think that Nippert Stadium is anything approaching Wrigley Field in terms of a sports venue?

I mean I guess if small and cramped is your only criteria then OK. But being small and cramped isn't more than a small part of what makes Wrigley Wrigley.

 

[HailToPitt725]

How big an idiot would someone have to be to think that Nippert Stadium is anything approaching Wrigley Field in terms of a sports venue?

I mean I guess if small and cramped is your only criteria then OK. But being small and cramped isn't more than a small part of what makes Wrigley Wrigley.

It's also the 2nd of 3rd oldest stadium in college football, as it was built in 1901.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

How big an idiot would someone have to be to think that Nippert Stadium is anything approaching Wrigley Field in terms of a sports venue?

I mean I guess if small and cramped is your only criteria then OK. But being small and cramped isn't more than a small part of what makes Wrigley Wrigley.

Its the age of the venue and the game day atmosphere. I do like the idea of the seats being very close to the stadium as they are there. The venue would be way too small for us but I do like the setup.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I'm sure their game day atmosphere in their little wee stadium that hasn't been sold out (or even really close to it) all year has been just great.

Seriously, it's a ridiculous comparison, and anyone who knows anything about sports ought to realize it.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Its the age of the venue and the game day atmosphere. I do like the idea of the seats being very close to the stadium as they are there. The venue would be way too small for us but I do like the setup.

Not necessarily. After the renovations it's up to 40K. If you wrap around the upper deck the whole way to the press box you're around 42-43K and then if you enclose the open end zone like they have in the picture below you're close to 50K.

This is actually a concept someone else did for a new stadium, which the capacity is at 47,000.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

I'm sure their game day atmosphere in their little wee stadium that hasn't been sold out (or even really close to it) all year has been just great.

Seriously, it's a ridiculous comparison, and anyone who knows anything about sports ought to realize it.

Stand down there Skippy, no one likes an internet tough guy.

I don't really care if Cincy has sold out this year or not as I'm talking about the venue. Also note that I said it IS too small for Pitt. I was pointing out that Pitt could look to get creative with space as they did.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

Not necessarily. After the renovations it's up to 40K. If you wrap around the upper deck the whole way to the press box you're around 42-43K and then if you enclose the open end zone like they have in the picture below you're close to 50K.

This is actually a concept someone else did for a new stadium, which the capacity is at 47,000.

Yeah I think Pitt would need to build with at least 50-55K with at least a little room to expand. Where is this proposal located, headed towards uptown? That seems like it would be a nightmare of a location.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Yeah I think Pitt would need to build with at least 50-55K with at least a little room to expand. Where is this proposal located, headed towards uptown? That seems like it would be a nightmare of a location.

Uptown area on Moultire Street, north of 5th. A stadium would never be put there. However, I liked the design of the stadium itself, especially the little patio areas in the end zones.

 

[maxxwell]

I don't have the nostalgia for Pitt stadium that most posting here do, nor do I have a problem with playing at Heinz Field, however, if Pitt were to build an on-campus stadium in the vicinity of the area in the original post I think the land abutting Bvd of the Allies on the downtown side of Bates would be more feasible. There are two larger structures there now with a lot of parking space. I have no idea how old those buildings are or what they house, but it would seem easier to acquire two parcels than many on the Schenley Park side of Bates. There should be enough land there to build a stadium along the Bvd of the Allies and possible a parking structure going down the hillside toward Second Avenue. Not sure if there is any more vacant land along Second Avenue , but, if there is, parking down along there that could be utilized as well.

 

[mvk112]

I don't have the nostalgia for Pitt stadium that most posting here do, nor do I have a problem with playing at Heinz Field, however, if Pitt were to build an on-campus stadium in the vicinity of the area in the original post I think the land abutting Bvd of the Allies on the downtown side of Bates would be more feasible. There are two larger structures there now with a lot of parking space. I have no idea how old those buildings are or what they house, but it would seem easier to acquire two parcels than many on the Schenley Park side of Bates. There should be enough land there to build a stadium along the Bvd of the Allies and possible a parking structure going down the hillside toward Second Avenue. Not sure if there is any more vacant land along Second Avenue , but, if there is, parking down along there that could be utilized as well.

I think the slope of the land would cause issues. It drops off pretty quickly behind those buildings. To get away from the slope, you start getting into purchasing a lot of houses.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Stand down there Skippy, no one likes an internet tough guy.

I'll tell you what. You stop posting dumb comparisons of sporting venues and I'll stop pointing out that your comparison was dumb. Deal?

I mean seriously, you compared probably the most famous baseball stadium in the world with a stadium that a majority of college football fans probably couldn't tell you where it was if you only told them the stadium name. You really don't see how that's a silly comparison?

 

[HailToPitt725]

I'll tell you what. You stop posting dumb comparisons of sporting venues and I'll stop pointing out that your comparison was dumb. Deal?

I mean seriously, you compared probably the most famous baseball stadium in the world with a stadium that a majority of college football fans probably couldn't tell you where it was if you only told them the stadium name. You really don't see how that's a silly comparison?

It wasn't him making the comparison. That's one of the names it's been given over the years, along with Baby Death Valley. Whether you agree with that is up to you. Doesn't change the fact that it's a nice stadium with a cool setup and a lot of history.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I'll tell you what. You stop posting dumb comparisons of sporting venues and I'll stop pointing out that your comparison was dumb. Deal?

I mean seriously, you compared probably the most famous baseball stadium in the world with a stadium that a majority of college football fans probably couldn't tell you where it was if you only told them the stadium name. You really don't see how that's a silly comparison?

Wrigley in terms of age and old-world "charm." I get what you are saying but I don't think he was saying it was as famous as Wrigley.

 

[pbrad]

Why didn't Pitt ever remodel the bathrooms? People act as if that were an impossible task.

They are doing a study on that as we speak.