Three Rivers Stadium

Coordinates: 40°26′48″N 80°0′46″W / 40.44667°N 80.01278°W / 40.44667; -80.01278
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Three Rivers Stadium
The Blast Furnace
The House that
NCAA
) (2000)
DesignatedNovember 26, 2007[5]

Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).

Built to replace Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, the US$55 million ($457 million today) multi-purpose facility was designed to maximize efficiency. Ground was broken in April 1968 and construction, often behind schedule, took 29 months.[6] The stadium opened on July 16, 1970, with a Pirates game. In the 1971 World Series, Three Rivers Stadium hosted the first World Series game played at night. The following year, the stadium was the site of the Immaculate Reception. The final game in the stadium was won by the Steelers on December 16, 2000. Three Rivers Stadium also hosted the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team for a single season each.[7][8]

After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers moved into newly built dedicated stadiums: PNC Park and Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium), respectively.

History

Planning and construction

A proposal for a new sports stadium in Pittsburgh was first made in 1948; however, plans did not attract much attention until the late 1950s.[9] The Pittsburgh Pirates played their home games at Forbes Field, which opened in 1909,[10] and was the second oldest venue in the National League (Philadelphia's Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium was oldest, having opened only two months prior to Forbes). The Pittsburgh Steelers, who had moved from Forbes Field to Pitt Stadium in 1964, were large supporters of the project.[9] For their part, according to longtime Pirates announcer Bob Prince, the Pirates wanted a bigger place to play in order to draw more revenue.[11]

In 1958, the Pirates sold Forbes to the

Northside was approved on August 10, 1958, due to land availability and parking space,[15] the latter of which had been a problem at Forbes Field.[9] The same site had hosted Exposition Park, which the Pirates had left in 1909.[16] The stadium was located in a portion of downtown difficult to access;[11] political debate continued over the North Side Sports Stadium and the project was often behind schedule and over-budget.[15][17] Arguments were made by commissioner (and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner) William McCelland that the Pirates and Steelers should fund a higher percentage of the $33 million project ($309.9 million today). Due to lack of support, however, the arguments faded.[15][18]

Boat pulls a
water skier from the confluence of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh toward Three Rivers Stadium on the northern shore of the Ohio River
, circa 1977.

Ground was broken in 1968 on April 25,[15][19][20] and due to the Steelers' suggestions, the design was changed to enclose center field.[15] Construction continued, though it became plagued with problems such as thieves stealing materials from the building site.[15] In April 1969, construction was behind schedule and the target opening date of April 1970 was deemed unlikely to be met.[21] That November, Arthur Gratz asked the city for an additional $3 million ($24.9 million today), which was granted.[22] In January 1970, the new target date was set for May 29; however, because of a failure to install the lights on schedule, opening day was delayed once more to July 16.[22] The stadium was named in February 1969 for its location at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which forms the Ohio River.[23][24] It would sometimes be called The House That Clemente Built after Pirates' right-fielder Roberto Clemente.[25]

Opening Day

In their first game after the All-Star Break in 1970, the Pirates opened the stadium against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, July 16; who won, 3–2.[26][27] The team donned new uniform designs for the first time that day, a similar plan was for new "mini-skirts" for female ushers. However, the ushers' union declined the uniform change for female workers.[28] A parade was held before opening ceremonies. The expansive parking lot, both Pirates and Steelers team offices, the Allegheny Club (VIP Club) and the press boxes and facilities were not opened until weeks later due to extended labor union work stoppages. Instead of allowing cars to park, the team instructed fans to park downtown and walk to the stadium over bridges or take shuttle buses. The opening of Three Rivers marked the first time the Pirates allowed beer to be sold in the stands during a game since the early 1960s.[28]

During

Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which agreed with her argument about the Baseball Rule and also noted that the opening to the concourse through which the foul had passed was a purely architectural choice that was not necessary to the game of baseball.[29]

Design and alterations

A Steelers game in 1996

Three Rivers Stadium was similar in design to other stadiums built in the 1960s and 1970s, such as

cookie-cutter" or "concrete doughnut" ballparks.[11] The sight lines were more favorable to football; almost 70% of the seats in the baseball configuration were in fair territory.[11] It originally seated 50,611 for baseball,[11] but several expansions over the years brought it to 58,729.[32] In 1993, the Pirates placed tarps on most of the upper deck to create a better baseball atmosphere, reducing capacity to 47,687.[11][33][34]

Three Rivers was the first multi-purpose stadium and the first in either the NFL or MLB to feature

Tartan Turf (then a competitor to the dominant AstroTurf), which was installed for opening day.[35][36] It had a dirt skin infield on the basepaths for baseball through 1972,[26] until converted to "sliding pits" at the bases for 1973.[37] Renovations for the start of the 1983 baseball season included replacing the Tartan Turf with AstroTurf, the center field Stewart-Warner scoreboard being removed and replaced with new seating—while a new Diamond Vision scoreboard with a White Way messageboard was installed at the top of the center field upper deck—and the outfield fence being painted blue from the previous aqua.[38][39] The field originally used "Gamesaver vacuum vehicles" to dry the surface, though they were later replaced by an underground drainage system.[36]

In 1975, the baseball field's outfield fences were moved 10 feet (3 m) closer to home plate, in an attempt to boost home run numbers.[36] The bullpens were moved to multiple locations throughout the stadium's history; however, their first position was also their final one—beyond the right-field fence.[36] A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story in 1970 stated that the new stadium boasted 1,632 floodlight bulbs.[40]

Honus Wagner statue
at Three Rivers

Due to Three Rivers Stadium's multi-purpose design, bands including

California Angels, paid homage to the original 1951 film, which featured the Pirates in "heavenly" need.[46]

Three Rivers Stadium had a

Hall of Fame
, the Coca-Cola Great Hall. After the initial 10-year contract expired, Heinz Field contracted with Pepsi for exclusive pouring rights, breaking a 50-year tradition with the Steelers.

Replacement

By the early 1990s, multipurpose stadiums had gone out of fashion. They were considered by many to be ugly and obsolete, as well as not financially viable. Joining a wave of sports construction that swept the United States in the 1990s, both the Pirates and Steelers began a push for a new stadium. This eventually culminated in the Regional Renaissance Initiative, an 11-county 1997 voter referendum to raise the sales tax in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County and ten adjacent counties 0.5% for seven years to fund separate new stadiums for the Pirates and Steelers, as well as an expansion of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and various other local development projects. After being hotly debated throughout the entire southwestern Pennsylvania region the initiative was soundly defeated in all 11 counties; only in Allegheny County was it even close (58-42).

The initiative's defeat led to the development of "Plan B", an alternate funding proposal that used a combination of monies from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (an extra 1% sales tax levied on Allegheny County), state and federal monies and a number of other sources. Despite polls which showed that the public was opposed to this plan as well, on February 3, 1999, the state funding portion of "Plan B" passed the Pennsylvania State House and Senate, clearing the way for construction.

Ground was broken for the new stadiums in 1999.

Washington Redskins.[50]

Three Rivers Stadium was

Heinz Field
only 80 feet (24 m) away, effects from the blast were a concern. Doug Loizeaux, Mark's older brother and vice president of Controlled Demolition, Inc., was happy to report that there was no debris within 40 feet (12 m) of Heinz Field.

At the time of the demolition, Three Rivers Stadium still had $27.93 million in debt ($48.1 million today), some of it from the original construction but the rest from renovations in the mid-1980s, bringing more criticism to the public funding of sports stadiums. The debt was finally retired by 2010.[54][55]

Like most stadiums demolished during this time whose replacements were located nearby (including the

Pittsburgh Press building and more than two centuries in Downtown.[56]

On September 30, 2012, members of the

home plate and second base of the former stadium on the 40th Anniversary of Roberto Clemente's 3,000th hit. First and third bases could not be marked as the West General Robinson Street now runs over those locations.[57]

On December 23, 2012, on the 40th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, the Steelers unveiled a monument at the exact spot where Franco Harris made the reception in the parking lot and corresponding sidewalk. The yard lines were also painted on the sidewalks.[58] In the process of marking the yard lines, the second base was accidentally painted over.

In 2022, the faded home plate print and the missing second base was replaced by metal plaques created by the Society for American Baseball Research. The pitcher's mound was also marked for the first time. The new plaques were officially revealed on September 30, 2022, the 50th Anniversary of Roberto Clemente's 3,000th hit.[59] [60]

In 2011, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the Three Rivers Stadium website was still active, 11 years after the facility's demolition.[61] The newspaper has revisited the issue and reported several times that the website remained active.[62][63] In 2020, nearly twenty years after the stadium had been demolished, the site had finally been taken down due to the domain expiring. However, an archive of the original site still exists, albeit at a different domain name.

Seating capacity

Stadium usage

Panthers

The Pitt Panthers played at Three Rivers Stadium on multiple occasions. The Panthers played their full home schedule there for the 2000 season, going 7–4. They played there in the following games:

Date Winning Team Result Losing Team Attendance
November 28, 1974 #10 Penn State 31-10 #18 Pitt Panthers 48,895
November 22, 1975 #10 Penn State 7-6 #17 Pitt Panthers 46,846
November 26, 1976 #1 Pitt Panthers 24-7 Penn State 50,250
September 9, 1982 #1 Pitt Panthers 7-6 #5 North Carolina 54,449
November 27, 1998 West Virginia 52-14 Pitt Panthers 42,254
September 2, 2000 Pitt Panthers 30-7 Kent State 31,089
September 16, 2000 Pitt Panthers 12-0 Penn State 61,211
September 23, 2000 Pitt Panthers 29-17 Rutgers 30,890
October 21, 2000 Pitt Panthers 42-26 Boston College 31,567
November 4, 2000 North Carolina 20-17 Pitt Panthers 43,872
November 24, 2000 Pitt Panthers 38-28 West Virginia 46,569

Pirates

Three Rivers Stadium opened on July 16, 1970, but the Pirates lost 3–2 to the

3,000th hit at Three Rivers Stadium, three months before his death.[14]

Bobby Bonilla hit one of the only 13 home runs ever hit into the upper deck of Three Rivers Stadium, and one of the six to the right-field side. Willie Stargell is the all-time leader in upper deck shots at the stadium, hitting four of the remaining five right-field blasts; Mark Whiten hit the other. The left-field upper deck had been reached by Jeff Bagwell twice, and Bob Robertson, Greg Luzinski, Howard Johnson, Glenallen Hill and Devon White (his home run struck the facade) once each.[70]

It was at this venue in 1998 where Sammy Sosa hit his Cub-franchise record 57th homer of the season, besting Hack Wilson, whose record stood for 68 years.

Steelers

"No matter what happens, when they tear Three Rivers down, a monument ought to be built there. Even if they end up building a hockey rink there, they should put some kind of a monument to that area where the Immaculate Reception took place."

—"Frenchy" Fuqua[71]

The Pittsburgh Steelers played their first game in Three Rivers Stadium on September 20, 1970—a 19–7 loss to the

Heinz Field after it was closed.[75]

References

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Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Three Rivers Stadium.
Events and tenants
Preceded by Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates
1970 – 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Home of the Pittsburgh Steelers
1970 – 2000 		Succeeded by
Heinz Field
Preceded by Home of the Pittsburgh Panthers
2000 		Succeeded by
Heinz Field
Preceded by Host of the
MLB All-Star Game
1974
1994
 Succeeded by
The Ballpark in Arlington
Preceded by
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Foxboro Stadium
 Host of AFC Championship Game
1973
1976
1979–1980
1995–1996
1998 		Succeeded by
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