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Pitt announces partnership for facilities master plan - long but important

Why is everyone convinced the steelers will need a new stadium? Comparing Heinz to places like Atlanta, San Diego, etc makes no sense. This isn't ugly, 70's era cookie cutter construction that was outdated in 15 years.

The steelers will be in Heinz till 2050 at least. Even if they move, the city will still have it for Pitt, and multiple concerts etc.
The Georgia Dome was barely 20 years old and not a cookie cutter. Neither was Turner Field.
 
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The Georgia Dome was barely 20 years old and not a cookie cutter. Neither was Turner Field.

Yes, but they are both hideous. Turner field was not built for baseball. Also there are major issues in Atlanta that we don't have here with getting people downtown for games.
 
Why is everyone convinced the steelers will need a new stadium? Comparing Heinz to places like Atlanta, San Diego, etc makes no sense. This isn't ugly, 70's era cookie cutter construction that was outdated in 15 years.

The steelers will be in Heinz till 2050 at least. Even if they move, the city will still have it for Pitt, and multiple concerts etc.

This. And also the development around it that never materialized when 3 rivers was there is another key factor as well.
 
Why is everyone convinced the steelers will need a new stadium? Comparing Heinz to places like Atlanta, San Diego, etc makes no sense. This isn't ugly, 70's era cookie cutter construction that was outdated in 15 years.

The steelers will be in Heinz till 2050 at least. Even if they move, the city will still have it for Pitt, and multiple concerts etc.
because it supports the "on campus stadium" crowd.. Heinz is old, Heinz is getting torn down so the rooneys will build a new stadium in cranberry and Pitt will just have to build a stadium in Oakland... It's a convenient, and ridiculous, perspective..
 
If nothing else, this should put the campus stadium question to bed, once and for all. They will look at it and say if it is feasible, how it's feasible, and what it could look like. Or they just say don't bother and here's how you improve Heinz on game day.

Absolutely. I would appreciate a well-researched study telling us why it is so impossible for Pitt to buy up some Oakland buildings, knock them down and put up a stadium. The study should be made available to PC members so we can see why an on-campus stadium in a city is such a foolish endeavor. Honestly, if they proved beyond all doubt that this was an impossible undetaking, I'd shut up about it and focus my efforts on trying to get the Rooneys to get rid of the yellow seats.
 
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because it supports the "on campus stadium" crowd.. Heinz is old, Heinz is getting torn down so the rooneys will build a new stadium in cranberry and Pitt will just have to build a stadium in Oakland... It's a convenient, and ridiculous, perspective..

Oh I know, and I was just actually going to say this. The idea of the steelers moving out to cranberry or south of the city in peters is absurd. If you had a beltway, it could work but Pittsburgh does not. You put a stadium in cranberry, and 70% of the fans leaving have one way to go...south on 79. Not to mention that you would cause your south hills fans to have a nearly 1.5 hour commute from home to parking space when you consider traffic.

It will not happen anytime soon. Heinz is perfectly adequate.
 
Absolutely. I would appreciate a well-researched study telling us why it is so impossible for Pitt to buy up some Oakland buildings, knock them down and put up a stadium. The study should be made available to PC members so we can see why an on-campus stadium in a city is such a foolish endeavor. Honestly, if they proved beyond all doubt that this was an impossible undetaking, I'd shut up about it and focus my efforts on trying to get the Rooneys to get rid of the yellow seats.

No you wouldn't. You would blast the study and simply say Pitt doesn't have the will to build it. If it says costs would run up to 750 million to buy up the land and construct the stadium, you would say Pitt is cheap.

Of course, all you have to say is that the feasibility of getting 100's of different property owners to sale their land to you without using eminent domain is enough, but you dismiss that too.
 
The Georgia Dome was barely 20 years old and not a cookie cutter. Neither was Turner Field.

The Rams left town because of stadium issues but their stadium was much older than Heinz.......Wait, what, its only 6 years older than Heinz? And they left town because of it???

The Rooneys will either get a new stadium or a greatly remodeled Heinz in the next 20 years. Thats pretty much a guarantee.
 
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Two years ago PNC Park and Heinz Field were considered "middle-aged" for stadiums.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2013/08/02/new-steelers-pirates-venues-now.html

PNC probably has some good miles left on it. It's a good fit for the team and the city. Pirates also know that squeezing anything out of the state for a new stadium would be impossible, at best.

Heinz generates a ton of revenue and could do a lot better. The Steelers got what they could for what they were given but it's never been the right stadium for the team.
 
The Rams left town because of stadium issues but their stadium was much older than Heinz.......Wait, what, its only 6 years older than Heinz? And they left town because of it???

The Rooneys will either get a new stadium or a greatly remodeled Heinz in the next 20 years. Thats pretty much a guarantee.

Orioles are still in Camden Yards even though it's 8 years older than both Heinz and PNC. OH MY!!!!!!
 
PNC park is the same age...I haven't heard a peep about a new baseball stadium.
And we probably won't. PNC is near perfect in design, capacity for the market size and location. Bob Nutting lacks the leverage of the Rooneys, too.

Let me be clear: I am not suggesting there will be a new football stadium in Cranberry or Wilmerding or South Strabane. And I am not a Return to Campus Dreamer. What I am convinced about is how the stadium game is played. Talk of Super Bowl hosting and "ability to compete" and all that jazz is to be expected. Maybe all that would come of it is publicly financed renovations to the Yellow Monstrosity.

The owner who voices displeasure first gets first place in line at the public trough. The moron who owned the Penguins before Mario learned that lesson. He accepted public $$ to renovate the aging Igloo instead of pushing for a new facility while the rest of the NHL and the Pirates and Steelers got their new playpens. Pittsburgh almost lost the Penguins as a result.
 
The Rams left town because of stadium issues but their stadium was much older than Heinz.......Wait, what, its only 6 years older than Heinz? And they left town because of it???


They didn't leave because of the stadium, they left because they didn't control the money generated from the stadium the way the Stillers control the money generated at Heinz. If the Rams had the same deal in St, Louis that the Stillers have in Pittsburgh the Rams wouldn't have moved.
 
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And we probably won't. PNC is near perfect in design, capacity for the market size and location. Bob Nutting lacks the leverage of the Rooneys, too.

Let me be clear: I am not suggesting there will be a new football stadium in Cranberry or Wilmerding or South Strabane. And I am not a Return to Campus Dreamer. What I am convinced about is how the stadium game is played. Talk of Super Bowl hosting and "ability to compete" and all that jazz is to be expected. Maybe all that would come of it is publicly financed renovations to the Yellow Monstrosity.

The owner who voices displeasure first gets first place in line at the public trough. The moron who owned the Penguins before Mario learned that lesson. He accepted public $$ to renovate the aging Igloo instead of pushing for a new facility while the rest of the NHL and the Pirates and Steelers got their new playpens. Pittsburgh almost lost the Penguins as a result.

Let the Rooneys leave town. Tax money shouldn't be used for stadiums.
 
Undergound basketball arena with a football stadium built on top. Build it where the pete currently sits.
 
They didn't leave because of the stadium, they left because they didn't control the money generated from the stadium the way the Stillers control the money generated at Heinz. If the Rams had the same deal in St, Louis that the Stillers have in Pittsburgh the Rams wouldn't have moved.

Their stadium was an absolute dump in a bad area, had to be a good part of it.
 
Why is everyone convinced the steelers will need a new stadium? Comparing Heinz to places like Atlanta, San Diego, etc makes no sense. This isn't ugly, 70's era cookie cutter construction that was outdated in 15 years.

The steelers will be in Heinz till 2050 at least. Even if they move, the city will still have it for Pitt, and multiple concerts etc.
There is literally a 0% chance the Steelers are still playing at Heinz Field in 2050.

0%
 
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Their stadium was an absolute dump in a bad area, had to be a good part of it.


True, but of course the other part of the deal is that since the Rams didn't control the building there was nothing they could do about the fact that the place was kind of a dump other than to ask the city to make improvements, which the city basically refused to do. On the other hand, if Heinz becomes a dump the Rooney's will have no one to blame but themselves because there is a mechanism in place to help pay to keep the stadium up to standards.
 
I feel like we could/should expect the following to be apart of the facility master plan:
- Renovation (and in some cases expansion) of Fitzgerald Field House, Trees Hall/Pool, and the Cost Center, along with The Pete renovations
- A new track and field facility, most likely behind the Cost Center as originally planned
- The new Student Athlete Service Building on the former Syrian Mosque lot the University recently purchased (this is what I've thought they would do with it from the beginning)
- A study into the feasibility of an on-campus (which will show that it would not work.) Instead, minor renovations to Heinz Field that will coincide with the Steelers' pursuit for hosting a Super Bowl (however (un)likely that may be)
It's amazing to think that just 10 years ago we had makeshift baseball and softball fields behind the Cost Center and now we're working with the greatest sports architecture company in the world. Great to see the progress we are making.
 
LOL

Well if the Steelers go to Cranberry then Pitt will simply take over Heinz and rename it Pitt Stadium.

Then we right size (Pitt stadium) to 50,000 seats and put in new dark blue seats.

Problem Solved.

When are the Steelers leaving the North Side so we can get our new stadium.:)

HAIL TO PITT!!!!
 
Fool doesn't even approach it. Anyone that seriously thinks Pitt or the city will ever even contemplate moving the Mary Schenley Fountain, or Soldiers & Sailors, or any similar such landmark, outside of saving them from a giant sink hole, is an absolute jack ass.

Unfortunately it is really hard to tell the over-the-top sarcasm/comedy in these threads any more because some people really are that god damn stupid.
I feel like we could/should expect the following to be apart of the facility master plan:
- Renovation (and in some cases expansion) of Fitzgerald Field House, Trees Hall/Pool, and the Cost Center, along with The Pete renovations
- A new track and field facility, most likely behind the Cost Center as originally planned
- The new Student Athlete Service Building on the former Syrian Mosque lot the University recently purchased (this is what I've thought they would do with it from the beginning)
- A study into the feasibility of an on-campus (which will show that it would not work.) Instead, minor renovations to Heinz Field that will coincide with the Steelers' pursuit for hosting a Super Bowl (however (un)likely that may be)
It's amazing to think that just 10 years ago we had makeshift baseball and softball fields behind the Cost Center and now we're working with the greatest sports architecture company in the world. Great to see the progress we are making.

The Syria Mosque site won't have an athletic support building. It is too far away from practice facilities and the dorms where most athletes live. Everything will be schemed for the upper campus.

There had been plans for athletic renovations and additional support facilities on the upper campus for a while. This is just a long overdue study to consolidate disparate ideas into a cohesive, strategic plan to move forward.

In addition to the swimmer team/lounge facilities at Trees, they'll need to build a diving well. That will be a major expansion to Trees. Fitzgerald will need a major renovation, especially to the wrestling facilities there. The Petersen Sports Complex will probably get the abandoned second floor to move baseball, softball, and soccer operations completely into it. T&F needs their outdoor facility, and really, and indoor facility. I don't know where they get the space for an outdoor & indoor track + tennis facility + band facility + support building. Perhaps a major renovation/expansion of Fitzgerald will turn that into a proper indoor facility. You might just have to replace Fitzgerald or parts of Trees Hall. I would think they'll probably gobble up the largely wasted plaza on the north side of the Pete (essentially above the practice facility) for the support building if that is feasible, otherwise, they may have to take some of the OC lot. Cost Center is antiquated but could be a huge advantage for our Olympic sports if renovated and utilized appropriately. New turf is already being installed in it. There are also bubbles being installed behind Cost on the outdoor intramural fields (presumable to relieve overcrowding in Cost which is used for both varsity, club, and intramural practices). There has been talk about chewing up some of the Pete lawn for a tennis facility which would destroy that green space that essentially serves as the upper campus quad so I don't know if the University would be amendable to that, nor am I sure it should be.
 
Ya, these historical locations are great. However when Pitt decides it needs them to build something to help them make money, those facilities will be gone and new facilities will be built....whether it be for athletics or anything else. Pitt will own the courts and the historians will be left crying....same as they were at the civic arena, the church on rt 28 and many many other locations.

You wanna see history, read a book. Out with the old, in with the new.
 
Ya, these historical locations are great. However when Pitt decides it needs them to build something to help them make money, those facilities will be gone and new facilities will be built....whether it be for athletics or anything else. Pitt will own the courts and the historians will be left crying....same as they were at the civic arena, the church on rt 28 and many many other locations.

You wanna see history, read a book. Out with the old, in with the new.
That's the problem, every damn brick, piece of drywall, or plastic siding in Oakland is a registered national landmark it loses its meaning when you overuse this status
 
Stupid #2. Sailors & Soldiers, Schenley Fountain, Frick Fine Arts...none of those structures are going away outside of them burning down or an earthquake or similar natural disaster. Their historic nature is only part of it it. The city just spent millions restoring the fountain. Frick isn't even that historic, but it is actually targeted for expansion by Pitt. There will never be a stadium on that part of campus. Never, ever.

Can't fix stupid I guess.
If they spent millions restoring a water fountain I'd vomit. Seriously, if that's true, I never want to read one more thing ever about this university needing one more cent from the state. Paco, I am disgusted if that's true.
 
I'll pay someone $500 to ram a car into the stupid water fountain. Pitt can thank me later.
 
The stadium feasibility study will be a part of this. At least it better be. Pitt has to at least spend some money to find out once and for all that it is completely infeasible and UCF, Houston, Tulane, Baylor, Minnesota, Colorado State, FAU, etc are fools for building on-campus stadiums.
Pitt won't spend a nickel on that tomfoolery. If so, fire Gallagher.
 
Please do, the universe is better off with the galactically stupid safely locked away.

My only concern would be some crazy old guy that chained himself to it to protect it. No need to harm people over a fountain.....even if they are old and crazy.
 
Steelers leave town, pittsburgh becomes Erie pa v. 2
This is the dumbest thing you've said. Cmu and Pitt aren't great and good respectively because of the Steelers. Google and Uber aren't here because of the Steelers. The Pens and Pirates play more home games than the Steelers thus creating more revenue.

The city will continue forward without some football team.
 
Fool doesn't even approach it. Anyone that seriously thinks Pitt or the city will ever even contemplate moving the Mary Schenley Fountain, or Soldiers & Sailors, or any similar such landmark, outside of saving them from a giant sink hole, is an absolute jack ass.

Unfortunately it is really hard to tell the over-the-top sarcasm/comedy in these threads any more because some people really are that god damn stupid.


The Syria Mosque site won't have an athletic support building. It is too far away from practice facilities and the dorms where most athletes live. Everything will be schemed for the upper campus.

There had been plans for athletic renovations and additional support facilities on the upper campus for a while. This is just a long overdue study to consolidate disparate ideas into a cohesive, strategic plan to move forward.

In addition to the swimmer team/lounge facilities at Trees, they'll need to build a diving well. That will be a major expansion to Trees. Fitzgerald will need a major renovation, especially to the wrestling facilities there. The Petersen Sports Complex will probably get the abandoned second floor to move baseball, softball, and soccer operations completely into it. T&F needs their outdoor facility, and really, and indoor facility. I don't know where they get the space for an outdoor & indoor track + tennis facility + band facility + support building. Perhaps a major renovation/expansion of Fitzgerald will turn that into a proper indoor facility. You might just have to replace Fitzgerald or parts of Trees Hall. I would think they'll probably gobble up the largely wasted plaza on the north side of the Pete (essentially above the practice facility) for the support building if that is feasible, otherwise, they may have to take some of the OC lot. Cost Center is antiquated but could be a huge advantage for our Olympic sports if renovated and utilized appropriately. New turf is already being installed in it. There are also bubbles being installed behind Cost on the outdoor intramural fields (presumable to relieve overcrowding in Cost which is used for both varsity, club, and intramural practices). There has been talk about chewing up some of the Pete lawn for a tennis facility which would destroy that green space that essentially serves as the upper campus quad so I don't know if the University would be amendable to that, nor am I sure it should be.
Why don't they just tear down Trees,Fitgerald and Cost and have a master facility for Indoor/outdoor Track,Swimming,Wrestling, Intermural Courts,Tennis. Suck it up for two years of displacement and be set until 2056? Really give athletes and undergrads great facilities.

Fitgerald is an embarrassment.
 
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That was fun...thanks guys.

Now I'm going away to prepare for the Pens game.

But seriously, those structures will never be moved for a whole combination of reasons, many of which Pitt has no say in. Pitt could move the Cathedral of Learning more easily.
 
Why don't they just tear down Trees,Fitgerald and Cost and have a master facility for Indoor/outdoor Track,Swimming,Wrestling, Intermural Courts,Tennis. Suck it up for two years of displacement and be set until 2056? Really give athletes and undergrads great facilities.

Fitgerald is an embarrassment.

Let's see what they come up with. I think we could possibly lose major portions of those buildings.

Cost is tricky because it sits on a parking garage that is a primary parking spot for the medical center so you can't just knock that one down.
 
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