Yet in the 1970s, Three Rivers Stadium was a super bowl, literally so for the Steelerswho went on to conquer four National Football League titles in their first 10 years playing at the stadium. THREE RIVERS STADIUM Pittsburgh, PA For three decades along the banks of the Allegheny River sat Three Rivers Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It took just 19 seconds for a colossal Pittsburgh sports landmark to collapse. [11], In 1958, the Pirates sold Forbes to the University of Pittsburgh for $2 million ($18.8 million today). King and Charles Mingus. 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 [44] And in 1992, the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated their second Stanley Cup victory at the Stadium. Its not that the Pirates had a choice in Forbes Fields fateat least not after 1958, when they sold the ballpark to the adjacent University of Pittsburgh, which wanted to raze the structure for campus expansion. 40 26.717 N, 80 0.833 W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. Home plate is rocketed from Three Rivers Stadium to PNC Park after the final game. Has signature of artists as shown in pictures and was made in 2001. names for church food ministry three rivers stadium home plate location. We had some immaculate times at Three Rivers Stadium.#SteelersHistory #ImmaculateReception pic.twitter.com/F5xEbYOd3j, Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) February 12, 2018. The particular spot for the new stadium was, in fact, once upon a time the same site as Exposition Park, the Pirates first home. The model of the stadium, revealed at the end of 1964, was eye candy on a prime level; a 54,000-seat venue with an overhang that protected 70% of the fans, thinning out and angling downward toward the river; private suites; and two restaurants, one open year-round. After thirty years of being locked in at Three Rivers Stadium, who can blame them? 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 Stadium at the time was home to the western Pennsylvania professional sports teams and was a very popular location for major events. If 25,000 people go (to Three Rivers) for a game, said one-time Pirate Phil Garner to The Sporting News, most of them will still be there two hours after the game.. You could sit in the stands and see Flagstaff Hill and Schenley Park. Three Rivers Stadium implosion seen from Point State Park on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001. By the early 1990s, multipurpose stadiums had gone out of fashion. On July 6, 1980, the Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 54 in 20inningsthe most innings ever played at the stadium. [38][39] The field originally used "Gamesaver vacuum vehicles" to dry the surface, though they were later replaced by an underground drainage system. Throughout their 31 seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, the Steelers posted a record of 182-72, including a 13-5 playoff record. Downtown Pittsburgh peaks over the top of the other side. Loc. Three Rivers Stadium (sometimes referred to simply as 3RS or "TRS") was a multipurpose sports stadium and event facility located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. . Heartbreak segued to an even more depressing reality. The scoreboard was located above the centerfield seats in the upper deck. Three Rivers Stadium was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. [15] In April 1969, construction was behind schedule and the target opening of April 1970 was deemed unlikely to be met. [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. You can see the top of Fort Pittsburgh Bridge (I-279) at the bottom. Twenty thousand people viewed the implosion from Point State Park on the morning of Feb. 11, 2001, with thousands more watching from Mount Washington. Pittsburgh mayor David L. Lawrence first brought up the idea of a civic-owned sports building in 1947, but it would take eight years for joint city-county agencies to seriously begin pondering where, when and how. Pittsburgh Jazz Festival Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers, Walt Harper, Roland Kirk, David Newman, and Herbie Mann. Joe B. Fleisner (left) and Jared Castine stack seats removed from the stands at Three Rivers Stadium on Jan. 3, 2000, in preparation for the auction of the contents. But the debt needed to be paid and the crowds, as misbehaved as they often were, were massive. = 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. On September 30, 1972, Clemente collected his 3,000th career hit with a fourth-inning double; it would be his last hit of the seasonand, alas, the last of his career. The Steelers warmed up from scratch in their first two years at Three Rivers, with a young, taciturn head coach (Chuck Noll) who made bland wallpaper exciting, and a hotshot Louisiana-born quarterback (Terry Bradshaw) learning the ropes at the pro level. Locals mocked it as the Bridge to Nowhere.. The stadium opened in 1970 and was home to the Pittsburgh Steelers football team and the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. [59] The newspaper has revisited the issue and reported several times that the website remained active. The implosion of Three Rivers Stadium with the Fort Duquesne Bridge over the Allegheny River. 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. This is the greatest day of my life, he told reporters. [52][53] With the newly constructed Heinz Field only 80 feet (24m) away, effects from the blast were a concern. 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. The scandal devastated the Pirates organization; the team sank in the standings, bottoming out with a 104-loss campaign in 1985. Mary Ann Wellener, with the help of her son Paul, places a pair of seats from Three Rivers Stadium on the grave of her husband Paul Wellener III, in Mount Lebanon Cemetery where they hope to have them permanently mounted, Jan. 6, 2001. 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. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Ground was broken for the new stadiums in 1999. But the river that created the most beautiful valley and the home of the Giant Forest is totally overlook. Attendance, abetted by a full-blown depression in Pittsburgh with 23% unemployment at one point, dipped well below a million; in 1983, the Pirates drew their smallest-ever crowd at Three Rivers when a gathering of 1,970 showed up. Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History, North Shore inPittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania , Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, April 25, 2010, Three Rivers Stadium. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for three Rivers Stadium Seats Set of 4 connected w/Cert from Free Markets HCS at the best online prices at eBay! The stadiums only physical feature that remains where it once stood is an obelisk-style beacon for Gate D, which could be found in a grassy area outside the south end zone of Acrisure Stadium. The force of the collision ricocheted the ball back 10 yardswhere it was plucked inches off the ground by breakout rookie running back Franco Harris, who lumbered the final 45 yards down the sideline, barely evading numerous Raiders players and into the end zone with the winning touchdown. Worse, there was wrangling between the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, the latter beginning to balk on its financial contribution toward the stadium unless the Pirates and Steelers pitched in more. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise and National Football League (NFL) franchise respectively. The stadium was . Homestead Grays (1939-1948) Vital statistics: Lifetime Capacity Outfield dimensions (feet) Behind home plate Fence height The Clem Criteria: Built Demo-lished LF LC CF RC RF Field asymm. Spectators are easily distracted by mesmerizing views of downtown Pittsburgh, the Allegheny River and the Sixth Street Bridge, now named after Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. While the Pirates represented baseball tradition, the Steelers represented PittsburghTough, hard-nosed, grim-featured, not so fancy, wrote The Sporting News Furman Bisher. So the idea was to open it up and see the city.. Photographed By Harry S. Coughanour, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, circa 1970. Three Rivers Stadium implosion seen from Point State Park on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001. There was exactly one good thing about Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. A multi-use facility, it also hosted many concerts and special events prior to demolition on February 11, 2001. . Ballplayers initially embraced the Parrot as wellthough not for the same reason as the fans. Built as a replacement for Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, the US$55million ($406.4 million today) multi-purpose facility was designed to maximize efficiency. [34] After the game, former Pirate Willie Stargell threw out the ceremonial last pitch (he died the following April hours before the first regular season game was played at PNC Park). Sunday 00:00 - 00:00. Despite its ultimate reputation as a mundane hunk of concrete, Three Rivers Stadium did spark some personality with its exclusive Allegheny Club, located in the second level down the right-field line. Three Rivers Stadium. Mark Loizeaux of Controlled Demolition, Inc. pushed the button that set off the 19-second implosion, while Elizabeth and Joseph King pushed the "ceremonial old fashioned dynamite plunger". On Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001, with the temperature just 21 degrees, more than 20,000 people filled Point State Park to watch the implosion of Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is demolished by implosion, Feb. 11, 2001. Meanwhile, the team found that their only way to replace Barry Bonds was to stick Al Martin in left field every night. Theres no atmosphere in this thing, said Hank Novak, a lifelong ballpark employee for the Pirates. Throngs of people gather at Point State Park to get a view of the implosion. Brett's All-Star win a big thrill", "Fun Facts About Pittsburgh's Ball Parks", "The house that the 'Immaculate Reception' built", "Steelers' former radio announcer Myron Cope dies at 79", Thirty Years of Stadium Rock Pittsburgh Music History, Baseball's Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories, Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run, District of Columbia Stadium/RFK Memorial Stadium, Frankford High School's Community Memorial Stadium, Municipal Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Three_Rivers_Stadium&oldid=1142567592, Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States, Defunct American football venues in the United States, Defunct baseball venues in the United States, Defunct multi-purpose stadiums in the United States, Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, July 30, 1972: Three Dog Night (2nd tour), July 13, 1973: Pittsburgh Jazz Festival (featuring, July 14, 1973: Pittsburgh Jazz Festival (featuring, July 19, 1975: World Series of Rock (featuring, June 15, 1988: Monsters of Rock Tour featuring. (Historic Pittsburgh). The park was not configured for baseball, so sightlines were not good. It took 10 years to wipe it off the books. Details Three Rivers Stadium Facts Cost to build: $55 million ($383.5 million today) Ground Broken:. In 2011, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the Three Rivers Stadium website was still active, 11 years after the facility's demolition. While public agencies battled over the finances, a local consortium of architects focused on the stadiums aesthetics. . When the United States Football League placed a franchise at Three Rivers Stadium in 1984, a name-the-team contest was won by a local man who came up with Maulers. His prize was a lifetime pass to the teams home games; the Maulers lasted only one year. It had hotels. [67] On September 30, 1972, Pirates' right-fielder Roberto Clemente got his 3,000th hit at Three Rivers Stadium, three months before his death. I-79 restrictions begin Wednesday night in Allegheny County, Inbound Armstrong Tunnel closed as yearlong rehab project begins, Feds want Tree of Life suspect psychiatric examination, $320K makeover planned for Greenfield's Four Mile Run Playground, Models strut the runway with their canines for the Bark and Swagger Dog Fashion Show, Historic Hempfield cemetery seeks volunteers, donors to help care for grounds, 2nd annual 'Restaurant Ramble' features 10 downtown New Kensington eateries, Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan actor, dies after brain aneurysm, TV Talk: Mel Brooks History of the World, Part II belatedly arrives on Hulu, Western Pennsylvania's trusted news source. When the dust settled, the remains were visible. Nothing happens in Pittsburgh without fireworks. Jun 06, 1999. Marker is at the intersection of Art Rooney Avenue and North Shore Drive, on the left when traveling north on Art Rooney Avenue. A Billy Graham Crusade took place at Three Rivers in June, 1993. [64] The Pirates' lowest season of attendance was 1985, at an average of 9,085. Sets of 2-3 Seat Feet- Oak Wood Floor Mounting Brackets - for Three Rivers Double Leg Style Seats. Doug Harvey hands Roberto Clemente the ball after he doubled off the Mets' Jon Matlack for his 3,000th career hit on September 30, 1972. These seats were removed from 3 Rivers Stadium the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers & Pirates in Pittsburgh, PA. Official fundraiser page for Pittsburgh Baseball HISTORY TRAIL, THREE RIVERS STADIUM HOME PLATE and Informational Marker As the development of the land. Much like the Pittsburgh Penguins would do with the site of Civic Arena, the Steelers retained development rights to the site of Three Rivers, and would later build Stage AE on portions of the site, as well as an office building that hosts the studios for AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, the headquarters of StarKist Tuna, and the regional headquarters of Del Monte Foods. Find what to do today, this weekend, or in March. However, an archive of the original site still exists, albeit at a different domain name. Have a comment, question or request? Most of the stadium's former site became a parking lot for PNC Park and Heinz Field. Franco Harriss Immaculate Reception happened there on Dec. 23, 1972. At the time of the demolition, Three Rivers Stadium still had $27.93 million in debt ($42.7 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. Location. By the time it put the team up for sale in 1986, the Galbreaths lost $18 million in 15 years at Three Rivers, making a profit only during the ballclubs first full season there (1971). 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 . Sets of 2-3 Steel Seat Feet for Three Rivers Stadium Floor MOUNTING Seats from the former home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both the Pirates and Steelers won it all that year, capping a sensational first decade at Three Rivers Stadium in which both teams combined for six championship titles (Sports Illustrated). It was named in February 1969 for its location at the confluence of the Allegheny and . The Steelers won 17 Monday Night Football games at Three Rivers Stadium. It was moved to Three Rivers Stadium, outside Gate C, on July 21, 1972. The longest unofficial home run in Three Rivers Stadium was a 519-foot drive unleashed well into the upper deck by the Chicago White Sox Frank Thomas during the 1994 Home Run Derby. Built as a replacement to Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, the US$55 million multi-purpose facility was designed . Oakland head coach John Madden often told the story of what happened next: The refs got on the phone and asked stadium officials if they could guarantee their safety off the field. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country. Price: From $79.99 to $99.99. This was a premier spot for other big name concerts as well. In his heyday, everything King Midas touched turned to gold. Having just fallen behind at Three Rivers to the Oakland Raiders by a 7-6 score, the Steelers were 22 seconds away from defeat and facing fourth down 60 yards from the Raiders end zone. [11] It originally seated 50,611 for baseball,[11] but several expansions over the years brought it to 58,729. The former home of the Pirates . However, the ushers' union declined the uniform change for female workers. A look at Three Rivers Stadium from the top of the upper-deck bleacher seats. The first game at Three Rivers Stadium was also the first for organist Vince Lascheid, beginning a tenure with the Pirates that would last through 2008eight years into the PNC Park era. 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. Mary Ann and her husband were Steelers season ticket holders for 42 years until Paul, 61, passed away that year. The Jumbotron scoreboard, which replaced the original board that extended below the upper deck behind center field, received a high bid of $475,000 from a Massachusetts company that carted it about for various events. The Parrot was an instant hit and remains a popular asset to this day at PNC Park. Three Dog Night. The Pirates lost the inaugural contest to the Reds, 3-2. Almost as surprisingly, the fans returneddrawing over two million in both 1990 and 1991, the only two times they would reach the figure at Three Rivers. The son of a saloon owner who ran a favored watering home for baseball fans in the Exposition Park era, Rooneyhimself not too bad a minor league ballplayerfirst named his team after the Pirates before changing it to the Steelers in 1940.