Your expectations for this board were far too high if you didn't expect people to take it this seriously.
Pitt Stadium
- Thread starter the_insider_
- Start date
Your expectations for this board were far too high if you didn't expect people to take it this seriously.
No one told me anything. The "revisions" to Pitt Stadium 21 years ago were quoted at $100-200 million back then. That was w/o buying any land or razing the stadium.
I've extrapolated that cost to 2019.....and added a mere $100 million to buy the land and prepare it for a new stadium. They've done the numbers....and they don't work. (From Gallagher)
So Gallagher DID tell you that the numbers don't work? Or Barnes or someone else. I don't believe them. The numbers don't work because they don't want them to work. It's a simple as that.
And I have to seriously wonder what the cost would really be if Stanford was able to demolish and rebuild their new stadium in 05-06 for only $90 million, in a location where the cost of labor is likely higher than Pittsburgh, where they must build with earthquakes part of the equation. But Pitt's projection a decade earlier was up to $200 million? Really now. I think it went more like this...
"Make sure that the cost projections are too high so we don't have to spend or fundraise for a new stadium. It's what the state and Steelers want anyway. We are just complying with their wishes like good little boys and girls."
Heinz 20 years was over 200 million and it was "bare bones". Not sure a stadium 20 years later could come in at under that amount unless it is Pine Richland on steroids.
The Stanford $90 million rebuild from 2006 would cost $127 million today, adjusted for inflation. I just don't see how Pitt would need to spend anywhere close to $500 million.
Now, I know it's not happening because Pitt doesn't want to deal with it. But I will continue to point out that many of the excuses used don't make a new stadium impossible.
Any difference in hourly labor costs would be negligible when you figure how much more effort would be needed to clear space in Oakland and the cost to acquire that land. Are you familiar with the area around Stanford Stadium? It is open spaces purposed for athletics and already owned by the school. Building a stadium in Oakland would require the acquisition of a number of contiguous parcels of land from private owners, within a relatively valuable area. Then the existing structures would need to be demolished and the lots remediated. Looking at the cost of 1 unit of labor is only one piece of the equation.
Here is a post I made here 4 years ago, addressing this issue. Keep in mind that Pitt would probably own all or most of the land their need to build a new stadium.
He never quoted a number...I'm relating the comment to a respected Board member of one of the satellites. I'm betting the Stanford joint cost more than that number,
You're using 2006 costs at $90 large....on their land. Pitt doesn't have land open to build on, and would have all sorts of issues to satisfy a consistently anti-Pitt government. The Pete was built 20 years ago at a cost of $115 million, on land Pitt owns.
Infrastructure Infrastructure Infrastructure
We can't even get the City to close down Bigelow and somehow they're going to green light a new stadium? In Oakland? These threads kill me every. single. time.
PITT should have been acquiring land over many years to give them and the community a buffer zone and for future opportunities like a football stadium.
If PITT admin wanted an on campus stadium it would be built.
You should see what gets constructed in big cities, with no room when they want something constructed.
PITT admin doesnt want an infrastuctre commitment.
With Heinz they have no infrastructure commitment so if in the future they want to become a soccer University all they have to do is throw out the uniforms and helmets. Fyi which is possible at PITT.
I do not agree with this and continued affiliation with the ACC means a continued commitment to FB! I have no problem playing 4 miles away.
Man, the comments that turn up in these stadium threads. Stuff like this is the reason I keep coming back to this board.
A good reason why Steve Pederson and Nordy should be ridiculed for the next 100 years.
But I don't agree that Pitt doesn't have the land. They do.
From a selfish point of view I'd rather be on the Northshore due to great hotels, restaurants'/bars, driving in and out, and I like Heinz field.
I'm just not sure its the best deal for a college program and shows the administration isn't totally commited to football.
I can assure you the decision to knock down PITT stadium rather than rebuild the place had a lot to do with SP and Nordy not fully commiting to PITT football.
The ACC move is a good thing and is a sign PITT might be in this for the long run!
If we really want to "make no infrastructure commitment" and deemphasize football (and all sports), I'm sure there is someone still working for Pitt that thinks we are ivy league material and will petition the ivy league to add us as a new member. And of course we will be rejected.
HailtoPitt said: ↑
$500M is what they told you because it makes for an easy excuse to not do it.
BS Mr WIndbag.
What 48k seat college stadiums have cost that much?
Waiting for your partner Ski's response.
land acquisition costs for the acreage huge cost
go ahead and look at the acreage for Pitt and compare to other colleges .
Then get back at me .
univeristy of Minnesota stadium cost $303 mil in 2009 - make that closer to $360 today
And they owned the land
your move
That's $363 in 2019 dollars.
Based on a current listings, property is going for about $5 million per acre. You probably need about 10-15 acres for a stadium, not including parking. So $50+ million for the land, if you can find contiguous parcels of land, which you almost certainly could not. None of that incorporates needed supporting infrastructure like road improvements or parking. It's easily a $500 million project in Oakland, probably more.
My point.
Smart University administrations would have acquired land over a long period of time when it wasn't expensive or constructed a basketball court somewhere else so a football stadium could fit in.
If you think playing 4 miles away, try driving from Coral Gables to Hard Rock. That is torture.
Acquired it from where and who?
who’s selling acreage in Oakland?
this is fantasy land silliness
why is Oakland magic to football ?
The numbers don't work because if all you are considering is finances, building a stadium in Oakland is just about the most moronic idea anyone could come up with.
If we ever build a stadium in Oakland it is going to be because people decided that they didn't care that it was a waste of money and did it anyway. It's as simple as that.
Pitt has only been in Oakland for 110 years. The initial land that it started with was just the hillside from O'Hara up to the VA and over to about Bouquet, not including the OC lot area. Most pretty much a nightmare to build on as well. They gave Presby and the VA the land they're on in order to build up a medical center. Everything else has been acquired over 100 years.
Pitt was a small and mostly broke for most of its history. Really it was financially struggling most of the time up until 1966 when it was forced to become state-related which essentially amounted to a state bailout. Pitt didn't receive an A bond rating until 1992. Pitt didn't achieve Aa1 until 2013.
Despite that, Pitt has sought new parcels in Oakland aggressively for most of its history in Oakland, at least since the 70s. It has mostly been in a constant state of facility deficiency, and I'm not talking about for athletics. However, there still has to be a willing seller.
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I could care less about the time it takes to get from Coral Gables to Hard Rock stadium, I only care about Oakland to the North Shore and that is negligible.
Wish it was the VA. Make them an offer they can't refuse; some type deal to give them UPMC McKeesport (Note: this is a fantasy). Would be the ideal location.
No kidding. It’d go along great with the Victory Heights development going on right next to it. Talk about a perfect fit.
if we had any brains we’d have tried to acquire the VA when they were consolidating their Pittsburgh locations. I don’t know if it would have worked but that’s a great location for Pitt to control.
It's the VA flagship, and they purposefully want to be next to Presby. It's not moving as long as there is a functional Veterans Administration with their own facilities.
So we talk about how Pitt needs a modest, right sized stadium for their needs on campus, and the example used against it is the most expensive one, the U of Minnesota stadium? That makes sense.
And if we are talking about numbers not making sense, those numbers belong to CrazoPaco, because he changes them based on mood.
And if we are talking about numbers not making sense, those numbers belong to CrazoPaco, because he changes them based on mood.
City campus so yes
as supposed to Stanford -
A fully endowed college with an enormous campus and a revision ?
stay on the couch , rolling pennies , and let the grown ups continue to do the heavy lifting .
It makes sense because what Minnesota wanted, a modest, right sized stadium on their city campus, is pretty much exactly what Pitt would want to be building.
I'm not sure why you are so adverse to an actual apples to apples comparison, other than the fact that it doesn't fit your narrative nearly as well as the apples to pistachios comparisons that you'd rather make.
What does the Stanford endowment and campus size have to do with them building a $90 million stadium?
It's not apples to apples. Why use that one as an example? It's the largest and most expensive college stadium built in at least the last 20 years. Yet... "OMG you guys think Pitt should spend the same amount."
Apples to apples would be Stanford's $90 million stadium. Or Houston's $125 million stadium.
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No one on here knows what a stadium would cost.
And as far as land, traffic, parking....... the only thing stopping Pitt from building a stadium in Oakland is money.
And as far as land, traffic, parking....... the only thing stopping Pitt from building a stadium in Oakland is money.
If they ever build another on campus stadium, all they need to do is take a good look at the "Navy-Marine Corps Stadium" that the Naval Academy uses as its home field. I believe that it hold 35,000 people in its current state. If Pitt was to build something similar and add seats in the one end zone, that would probably make a stadium that holds 45,000 fans or so. A perfect size for Pitt.
pitt cant afford to buy an abandoned high school in Oakland in an open bid and you guys think they can afford to drop a half billion on a stadium?
