7/30/1972. [28], During batting practice on that day, a stray foul ball hit a woman named Evelyn Jones in the eye while she was walking the stadium's concourse. Stadium officials notated the spot where they landed by later painting numbers on it. It had hotels. Perhaps a live ball was helping to bring the fans in; Three Rivers yielded a stadium-record 171 home runs in 1999then 172 in 2000. [72] In the 1995 AFC Championship game, the Steelers' Randy Fuller deflected a Hail Mary pass intended for Indianapolis Colts receiver Aaron Bailey as time expired, to send the franchise to their fifth Super Bowl. The Pirates were not using the pending eviction to leave town; the university would, in fact, be patiently gracious in letting Forbes Field remain standing and active as long as the Pirates needed it. After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, and the Pirates and Steelers each moved into newly built stadiums. Koch received most of the cocaine from a freelance photographer named Dale Shiffman, who in later grand jury testimony claimed that two-thirds of the Pirates roster were buyers. While public agencies battled over the finances, a local consortium of architects focused on the stadiums aesthetics. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The Pirates werent complaining either; they all but bookended the decade hoisting a pair of World Series trophies, while winning four other National League East Division titles. This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 04:17. A Billy Graham Crusade took place at Three Rivers in June, 1993. Despite the last-game loss, Three Rivers ended up being very, very good for the Piratesat least on the field, where they finished with a 1,324-1,081 record. The Pirates move to Three Rivers Stadium failed to domesticate the base. The Sporting News Leonard Koppett admitted that Three Rivers and its modern ilk were admirably practical buildings, containing creature comforts and working facilities undreamed of in the old days, but he well understood their flaws. [25], 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, 32. [70] The largest attendance for a football game was on January 15, 1995, when 61,545 spectators witnessed the Steelers lose to the San Diego Chargers. [14] A design was presented in 1958 which featured an open centerfield designthrough which fans could view Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle". But modern times also made for a strong presence. Pittsburgh Jazz Festival Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles B.B. design Seat prox. But the Steelers, benefitting from a generous NFL revenue sharing system badly lacking in MLB, played only 10 home games a year, not 81and so the stadium sat drowning in nearly $50 million in debt, while the Pirates were losing up to $10 million a year, borrowing more millions just to stay afloat and knocking heads with the stadium authority to sweeten the Three Rivers lease as they had been doing for years. Three Rivers Stadium hosted game four, in which the Pirates defeated the Orioles in the first night game in the history of the World Series. Stargell would share one last honor at years endbeing given Sports Illustrateds prestigious Sportsman of the Year award along with Steelers quarterback Terry BradshawTwo champs from the City of Champions, the magazine boasted. PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was during the Steelers' stay in Three Rivers that the now famous "Mean Joe" Greene Coke commercial aired, leading to a longstanding relationship between the two. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is demolished by implosion, Feb. 11, 2001. Contents Three rivers stadium implosion february 11 2001 at 8 00 am Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds - Sightseeing on the Circle Line June 13, 2021; Sanford Field, Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium, and Sanford Museum May 17, 2020; Fleming Stadium and the North Carolina Baseball Museum April 11, 2020; The West Coast Wrigley Field April 5, 2020; Space Coast Stadium's New Frontier March 17, 2019 Sets of 2-3 Steel Seat Feet for Three Rivers Stadium Floor MOUNTING Seats from the former home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [21] That November, Arthur Gratz asked the city for an additional $3million ($22.2 million today), which was granted. However, an archive of the original site still exists, albeit at a different domain name. The only Pirate who wore a jersey for the very first game and this, the very last, was bench coach Richie Hebner, who started at third base in Three Rivers inaugural game, attracted ladies with his good looks and boos from everyone else for his subpar defense, and later criticized the stadium by stating, My fathers cemetery has more life in it than this ballpark. A crowd of 55,351, the largest ever to see a baseball game at Three Rivers, watched as the Bucs blew a late lead and bowed to the Chicago Cubs, 10-9. Price: From $89.99 to $129.99. Forced to go back to the drawing board, Ritchey had no choice but to artistically cave to the tight budget, designing a fully-enclosed stadium with a symmetrical build that appealed to a more cost-effective solution. Monday 00:00 - 00:00. Built as a replacement for Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, the US$55 million ($406.4 million today) multi-purpose facility was designed to maximize . PITTSBURGH STEELERS THREE RIVERS STADIUM TWO RED SEATS - 1 & 2 Pre-Owned $1,000.00 angelica1 (54,658) 99.6% Buy It Now Free local pickup 40 watchers Sponsored Franco Harris Signed Steelers Seat Bracket From Three Rivers Stadium W/COA $250.00 firstrounder1988 (420) 100% or Best Offer +$22.80 shipping Sponsored Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. After getting used to Three Rivers for half a season in 1970, the Pirates first full campaign at the stadium a year later resulted in their first world title since their fabled 1960 run at Forbes Field. Terry Bradshaw was a frequent target of boosbut his successors at the quarterback spot fared far worse. Former stadiums of the National Football League, Defunct ballparks in Major League Baseball, "Downtown: Images 10: Stadium over the Monongahela", "It's 'Play Ball' Tonight for Three Rivers lidlifter", "$55,000,000 Three Rivers Stadium tonight replaces", "Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh, 19702000)", "Three Rivers Stadium to feature 'no-skin' look", "Yes, things are different at Three Rivers", "Stadium lights aren't burning city taxpayers", "Led Zeppelin, July 24, 1973, Pittsburgh, PA, Three Rivers Stadium", "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Google News Archive Search", "Pittsburgh brings down Three Rivers Stadium", "Multi Media: Adrien Brody going darker and deeper", "Steelers Break Ground for New Football Stadium", "City, Pirates break ground for PNC Park with big civic party", "PRO FOOTBALL; Steelers Rout Redskins in Last Three Rivers Game", "A Dynamite Drumroll and Three Rivers Stadium Bows Out", "PLUS: STADIUMS; Three Rivers Is Demolished at 30", Pens gone, but Igloo $9.3 million in debt, Three Rivers Stadium: The concrete will crumble but the memories will live on, "Pittsburgh Steelers unveil Immaculate Reception monument ESPN", "Post-Gazette newsroom leaves history Downtown with move to North Side", "The Grandstander: Standing with Clemente", "You can still access the Three Rivers Stadium website", "Pirates Open Their New Park, But Reds Celebrate 3-2 Victory", "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors", "Where are they now? Pittsburgh Pirates Team History A decade-by-decade history of the Pirates, the ballparks theyve played in, and the four people who are on the franchises Mount Rushmore. [54][55], Like most stadiums demolished during this time whose replacements were located nearby (including the Civic Arena over a decade later), the site of Three Rivers Stadium mostly became a parking lot. A multi-use facility, it also hosted many concerts and special events prior to demolition on February 11, 2001. . You can contact Steven at sadams@triblive.com. Forbes Field wasnt getting any younger, the Pirates patience was thinning, and the university was standing by with the wrecking ball, fingers tapping on the lever. Three Rivers Stadium was demolished on February 11th, 2001 at 8 AM. [15] Construction continued, though it became plagued with problems such as thieves stealing materials from the building site. In 2011, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the Three Rivers Stadium website was still active, 11 years after the facility's demolition. Home, the place of origin or a destination point, is where the heart is. Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. The rancor became so R-rated that, by 1985, the Pirates set up a G-rated family section at Three Rivers that forbade profanity and alcohol. (FlickrJoel Dinda). After thirty years of being locked in at Three Rivers Stadium, who can blame them. With both facilities have come collateral development only dreamed about a half-century earlier, with a modern mix of parking, dining, business and green space; per example, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has relocated its headquarters right at the point where Three Rivers southeast (Gate C) entrance was once located. The Sports & Exhibition Authority said proceeds from the auction, minus costs and the auctioneers' cut, will be used to pay the $5.2 million demolition cost of Three Rivers Stadium, and to. 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. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1970-2000Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL), 1970-2000Duquense University (college football), 1971University of Pittsburgh (college football), selected gamesPittsburgh Maulers (USFL), 1984, 792 W. General Robinson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Deeter Ritchey Sipple (DRS), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Left field line: 335 feetLeft-center field: 375 feetCenter field: 400 feetRight-center field: 375 feetRight field line: 335 feet, July 16, 1970Cincinnati Reds 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2, October 1, 2000Chicago Cubs 10, Pittsburgh Pirates 9, August 14, 1971Bob GibsonAugust 9, 1976John CandelariaJuly 12, 1997Francisco Cordova (9), Ricardo Rincon (1), 1974National League 7, American League 21994National League 8, American League 7 (10 innings). [11] The sight lines were more favorable to football; almost 70% of the seats in the baseball configuration were in fair territory. Crowds of spectators gathered to witness the end of an era. Ritcheys unique design, using many customized components, was part of the reasonbut so was inflation and an expected excess of overtime wages to build a stadium on a relatively fast turnaround. TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. Due to lack of support, however, the arguments faded. [34] On December 23, 1972, Three Rivers Stadium was site to the Immaculate Reception, which became regarded as one of the greatest plays in NFL history. Home to the Pirates, who won two World Series, and the Steelers, who won four Super Bowl Championships, creating Pittsburgh's "City of Champions" identity. After sharing this park with the football Steelers for 30 years, the Pirates got their own new park in 2001. The concourse areas were dark and dingy. = Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage. The Steelers would move to Heinz Field after it was closed.[73]. Has signature of artists as shown in pictures and was made in 2001. Explore Academic Pathways Upcoming Events See All Events Mar 03 Cinderella 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm, Tinnin Fine Arts Center View Event Mar 05 Everyone Is a Raider Day 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm View Event Mar 07 Join Choir Jam 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm Jul 18, 1998. [11] As part of the deal, the university leased Forbes back to the Pirates until a replacement could be built. Theres no atmosphere in this thing, said Hank Novak, a lifelong ballpark employee for the Pirates. While Three Rivers was receiving its late prepping up as the fight over whether to build a new ballpark continued, the area surrounding the stadium remained dormant, a head-shaking lack of mixed-use development promised by the stadium authority decades earlier. It was very nice. Marker is at the intersection of Art Rooney Avenue and North Shore Drive, on the left when traveling north on Art Rooney Avenue. Roberto Clemente statue outside Three Rivers Stadium is shown on October 16, 1994 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Even after its implosion, Three Rivers Stadium continued to live on in the bills of taxpayers, who still had to help pay off $40 million of debt on the facility. Essentially, Ritchey envisioned PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) four decades before they were built. But city leaders, leery of the trend in franchise shifts within Major League Baseball, didnt want to take any chances of losing its most fabled sports entity. Locals mocked it as the Bridge to Nowhere.. The former home of the Pirates . [13] Plans of the "Stadium over the Monongahela" were eventually not pursued. location, location, location. Home plate is rocketed from Three Rivers Stadium to PNC Park after the final game. The Ballparks: Forbes Field Removed from downtown Pittsburghs choking smoke and untamed rivers, elegant Forbes Field was built in a vernal, cultural paradise on the outskirts of town, where three was the magic numberfrom three Pirates world titles to Babe Ruths last three homers to the last tripleheader to all those triples. [51] The demolition cost $5.1million and used 4,800 pounds (2,180kg) of explosive. But not everything was hauled away for disposal. Never mind the possibility of the 100-year flood wreaking havoc on such a complex structure; the U.S. Department of Defense was more concerned with the potentially devastating impact from an act of terrorismbefore that word became a thingand nixed the idea. The three succeeding portraits on the covers of this trilogy (which originally appeared volume by volume in 1954, 1959, and 1963) show the ardent young radical journalist and activist, the more mature Soviet tactician and commander of the Red Army, and the snowy-headed exiled sage. Past skippers including Jim Leyland, Chuck Tanner and Bill Virdon joined manager Gene Lamont to deliver the Pirates lineup. Second photo is the dismantling of a section of the outfield wall at Forbes Field. Location. There was some old-timey substance to the proceedings, as 71-year-old Pirates legend Pie Traynor threw out the ceremonial first pitch; Hollywood crooner and long-time Bucs fan/part-owner Bing Crosby was among the notables in the VIP section. Although the Pirates, in the midst of a two-decade stretch of losing unparalleled in pro sports, were awful over Three Rivers final two years, they managed to never draw a crowd under 10,000. This was a premier spot for other big name concerts as well. The Allegheny Club doubled as an ode to the past; it included a segment of Forbes Field famed brick wall, and a plaque honoring Babe Ruths final home run (hit at Forbes in 1935). The formal closing ceremony centers on home plate. Providing the infrastructural design was Michael Baker International, a fast-growing firm which had a hand in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the Seattle Space Needle, and Pittsburgh International Airport, among many other projects around the planet. The university wanted the land for expanded graduate facilities. In the 1990s, the Pirates reduced capacity at Three Rivers Stadium by 10,000 simply by tarping seats in the upper deck, where very few were likely to sit as the team descended into an historic long period of losing. The final game in the stadium was won by the Steelers on December 16, 2000. [15] A site on the city's 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. Over 494 career at-bats at the stadium, he batted .337; no other player had a higher average in as many at-bats at Three Rivers. Nothing happens in Pittsburgh without fireworks. Baseballs acceleration of free agency dollars exposed the widening gulf between big and small markets, and the Pirates clearly represented the latter. The Pirates lost the inaugural contest to the Reds, 3-2. The first three years of the Pirates final decade at Three Rivers Stadium witnessed the fruits of their labor, winning the NL East each season from 1990-92. He was forced to go back to the drawing board when construction bids to realize his design were $10 million over budget. The plan was to build a whole mixed-use community around the stadium, including hotels, restaurants, a theme park, science center and marinaall connected by people movers. Three Rivers Stadium Home Plate Location. Among visiting players at Three Rivers, the Phillies Mike Schmidt hit the most home runs with 25including his 500th career round-tripper in 1987. When Heinz Field opened, Coca-Cola also assumed the beverage contract for that stadium (the Pirates signed a deal with Pepsi for PNC Park before signing with Coke again in 2014), and also became the primary sponsor for the Steelers' team Hall of Fame, the Coca-Cola Great Hall. [67] On September 30, 1972, Pirates' right-fielder Roberto Clemente got his 3,000th hit at Three Rivers Stadium, three months before his death. Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates' and Steelers ' home at the time, had been designed for functionality rather than "architecture and aesthetics". It was perched right at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers, walking distance from downtown Pittsburgh. At the groundbreaking for Three Rivers Stadium, April 1968, Steelers owner Art Rooney kicks a football, while Dan Rooney holds. Three Rivers Stadium is imploded as the first rounds of dynamite go off. Sets of 2-3 Seat Feet- Oak Wood Floor Mounting Brackets - for Three Rivers Double Leg Style Seats. [15][18], Ground was broken in 1968 on April 25,[15][19][20] and due to the Steelers' suggestions, the design was changed to enclose centerfield. [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. After his arrest and asked to explain his lapse into mental freefall to do all of these things, the man put the blame on Steelers quarterback Mark Malone, who was finishing up an awful (46% completion rate, six touchdowns, 19 interceptions) season for Pittsburgh. [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.
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