Cathedral is wasted space
We need that space for 7 weekends
Time for a stadium thread...
- Thread starter HailtoPitt
- Start date
We need that space for 7 weekends
I mean, we all know the situation. There’s really one site on campus (not Central or South Oakland, not Hazelwood Green, etc.) that can both hold a stadium and where it wouldn’t be an abomination to knock down whatever’s there now to build a football stadium. That sole circumstance is if the federal government decides to move on from the VA hospital and build a new structure somewhere else. You would take down the hospital and probably Sutherland Hall and the frat complex, and build it there. It’d be a logistic nightmare, but that’s the only location that actually makes sense and wouldn’t make Pitt a laughingstock amongst its peers (which it would be if it knocked down Hillman Library or any one of the other absurd examples that have been floated here).
We don’t get into the ACC if we have a football stadium instead of the Pete, and we certainly don’t get in if the Petersen Sports Complex doesn’t exist and we’re playing soccer games out in Saxonburg and baseball/softball games at a field that looks like it belongs at a middle school in the middle of Brooklyn.
If you’re looking at a smaller structure that’s quasi-on campus, I think that’s a direction that makes more logical sense no matter how you look at it. I don’t think Hazelwood Green is happening, though if you wait around for another ten years and nothing is happening there, who knows. My personal preferences would be either (1) the southwest corner of Bates and the Boulevard, basically from the ravine to Joe Hammer Square. I’m also interested by (2) the idea of the corner of Fifth and Penn near Bakery Square, where the Chatham facility is - especially if it were to be packaged with a professional soccer team.
We don’t get into the ACC if we have a football stadium instead of the Pete, and we certainly don’t get in if the Petersen Sports Complex doesn’t exist and we’re playing soccer games out in Saxonburg and baseball/softball games at a field that looks like it belongs at a middle school in the middle of Brooklyn.
If you’re looking at a smaller structure that’s quasi-on campus, I think that’s a direction that makes more logical sense no matter how you look at it. I don’t think Hazelwood Green is happening, though if you wait around for another ten years and nothing is happening there, who knows. My personal preferences would be either (1) the southwest corner of Bates and the Boulevard, basically from the ravine to Joe Hammer Square. I’m also interested by (2) the idea of the corner of Fifth and Penn near Bakery Square, where the Chatham facility is - especially if it were to be packaged with a professional soccer team.
I always thought the Bates/Boulevard idea was interesting; it very well could be the most realistic location (excluding the VA Hospital). Now would be the time to acquire land since, if I recall correctly, Duquesne Light is building a new substation near Panther Hollow.
How big are the Riverhound crowds? How many pro soccer teams are viable? There is no financial logic to another stadium. Pitt won't leave Heinz until the stop playing football or there's a new joint.
You are correct about the new Duq Light substation. There was a plan to build a massive parking garage in the Bates ravine a few years ago, primarily for UPMC/Pitt employees, that fell through.
It would be contingent on Pittsburgh getting an MLS team. Most MLS-only stadiums have a capacity of somewhere around 20,000, with a few edging up towards 30,000. Either way, far more than Highmark Stadium’s 5,000. My thought is more along the lines of Cincinnati’s MLS team, who plays at 40k Nippert Stadium.
Of course, that site wouldn’t nearly be big enough; they’d also have to somehow acquire the UPMC facility adjacent to it (I believe it’s some sort of plastic surgery center) and extensive road work would need to be done on Bates to accommodate traffic coming up the hill.
But, when you factor in how (relatively) easy it’d be to acquire such a large amount of land from so few landowners, near the heart of Oakland no-less, I really think that would be the best bet.
Those stadiums listed above (primarily Baylor and Houston) look like MAC stadiums? It would only look like a MAC stadium if you build it cheaply. And 40K is far bigger than most MAC stadiums.
One site that may make sense eventually: Forbes Quad. I'm not sure what the life span is on that building but it's a tremendous waste of space and is ugly as hell. You could fit a stadium in there and still have room to build around it (tightly, like Nippert).
Yes, in my earlier post I mentioned that you’d probably need to purchase everything from Bates up to about Joe Hammer Square. You probably couldn’t build a stadium in the ravine, but you could easily put parking structures, etc. in there.
You’d really struggle to fit a regulation-sized football field in the Forbes Quad footprint, much less a stadium.
I can't even tell if this is sarcasm or not. When Pitt was fielding top 15 teams the Pete was packed every game with a waiting list for season tickets. If Pitt gets good again, I don't expect there to be so much demand that there is a waiting list for tickets. That said, basing typical demand on a team that was bad enough to not only go winless in conference; but lose many games by 30 or more points is not a valid indicator of what size facility is needed when the program is healthy. If you are serious, what size arena do you think is appropriate for Pitt basketball? Even in years were Pitt is below average(but not terrible); I think you can find 12,000 people that would show up to watch Duke or North Carolina play. Or is the assumption here that games against "big" opponents would all be played at PPG Paints Arena if Pitt had a smaller home court?
By his "logic", the Paint Can should be half its size, since Pitt BB outdrew the Penguins before Crosby arrived.
Cincinnati's MLS team was only playing in Nippert until their own stadium was finished. Which is supposed to be in time for the beginning of their season next spring.
TQL Stadium
www.westendstadium.com
Looks like a really nice venue, probably will instantly become the best in MLS. Mostly privately funded for 250 million.
The VA is still the best option. Hazelwood Green would probably be a logistical nightmare and really only makes sense if Pitt, like Zelda said, expands campus to Hazelwood.
It doesn’t make sense at all with the exception of me thinking an open ended stadium along river would be cool. Off campus, private land, one road in is non sensical.
The va is the best option if there wasn’t a va hospital there.
The VA is realistic mostly because it's a dump. So it's realistic that they may leave.
They just completed a big renovation/expansion project there what, maybe five years or so ago? So leaving would seem really unlikely.
Well, except for the fact that it's the government and they have no problem wasting lots of money.
Pitt needs to build a stadium and schedule PSU, ND, and WVU every season and my life would be complete.
Stay at Heinz Field and Tarp it down to 50,000 fans for 7 days a year usage.
Easy solution.
Heather lets get it done.
HAIL TO PITT!!!!
Easy solution.
Heather lets get it done.
HAIL TO PITT!!!!
Who is saying baseball. That will not work with a rectangular field. So don’t even go there. Basketball works wonderfully. Look at stade Pierre mauroy before commenting again.
The new Vikings stadium has a baseball configuration and it works pretty well. Football stadiums are atrocious for basketball. The smaller the basketball arena, the better.
MLS awards Mark Cuban a Pittsburgh MLS team contingent on approved stadium. He builds a 40K Pitt/MLS stadium somewhere in Oakland. The corner of Bates/Blvd seems like the best option right now. Would have to relocate that Duquesne Light substation and tear down that UPMC Profesional building.
Accidentally gets one right. I thought this might be the 5th year in a row w/o one.
You want to have an easy access in and out. The Blvd of The Allies with views of Southside on one end over looking the practice facility and the other end facing the cathedral. The area would be revitalized with new businesses. There are some large parking lots where bates connects to it
