(Almost) On-Campus Pitt Football Stadium

Pitt Stadium was razed back in 1999 for good reasons.  It was sorely in need of upgrading, Pitt had the opportunity to partner with the Steelers to build and share Heinz Field, and the old stadium location would provide an ideal spot to build the Peterson Events Center.  The only down-side to the deal was that it moved Pitt football off-campus.

At times, Heinz field has provided a great atmosphere for Pitt football during big games against the likes of Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.  However, the atmosphere for a majority of games has been lackluster with the stadium sometimes more than half empty.  Many Pitt alumni and fans feel that moving Pitt football back onto campus into a smaller stadium would provide a much better game day atmosphere.  While that may not happen any time soon, the university administration should be looking ahead at funding and land acquisition opportunities to see what is possible.

When it comes to land acquisition though, where would it be possible to build on or near the Pitt campus?  There is no open space available for development in the area, so the project would have to be a redevelopment.  And there is no single property that would be available and large enough to fit a stadium.  Obtaining multiple properties for redevelopment would be the only conceivable way to build an on-campus stadium, but that could become very difficult and costly in the area, where available space is limited, busy through-streets are everywhere, and real-estate sells at a premium.  Oddly enough, the best opportunity may be west towards downtown.

The Uptown area along Fifth and Forbes Avenues is an area of Pittsburgh that is poised for growth.  The new Consol Energy Center and the Civic Arena redevelopment should provide an economic boost to the west end of Uptown that already includes Duquesne University and UPMC Mercy.  New construction has popped up at other locations in Uptown heading toward the Pitt campus.  However, the area still has many abandoned lots and residences that are prime for acquisition and redevelopment, particularly toward the Pitt campus to the east. 

Looking at this area for potential stadium locations, Moultrie Street and the surrounding land north of Fifth Avenue would appear to be a good spot.  It is about a mile up Fifth Avenue from the heart of the Pitt campus, no through-streets would need to be interrupted, it has frontage on Fifth Avenue, and there are not a large number of properties to acquire, relatively speaking.  There are a number of empty/abandoned lots directly across Fifth Avenue that would be ideal for parking lot development or additional athletic facilities.  Sloping terrain would appear to be a problem at first glance.  However, with some site grading and the right design, it would be very possible to build a stadium at this location.

 

 

The concept stadium shown below could seat about 47,000 with 32,700 lower level seats, 9,300 upper level seats, 3,800 club level seats, and 1,200 luxury box seats.  A 47,000 seat stadium should provide just the right capacity for Pitt.  Enough to generate the revenue that is needed by the athletic department, but not so much that the stadium feels empty for many games.  The west upper deck could also be extended to increase capacity to about 50,000.