Three Rivers Stadium Plaque. No team ever scored 20 or more runs in a game at Three Rivers Stadium. Numerous strikes in a city heavily represented by unions pushed back the scheduled first game from Opening Day 1970 to midseason; Every day they delay making the move is taking money out of my pocket, complained Pirates star slugger Willie Stargell, who had enough of Forbes Field and its endless outfield dimensions. Three Rivers Stadium presented itself as a fairer alternative to Forbes Field with its boilerplate field dimensions; no longer did Willie Stargell nor any other player have to drive a ball 400 feet and then hope that it cleared the fence. 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. 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. It was also the site of the very first broadcast of ABCs Monday Night Footballexcept that it was a preseason game held on a Friday night between the Steelers and New York Giants. No-nonsense manager Jim Leyland presided over a young and highly talented outfield that included Bonilla, Van Slyke, and a tantalizing five-tool legacy named Barry Bonds, who omitted occasional raw flashes of greatness before ascending to more consistent MVP levels. Three Rivers Stadium implosion seen from Point State Park on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001. Three Rivers Stadium was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. 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. 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. The reason for the only sellout in the short (one year) history of the United States Football Leagues Pittsburgh Maulers at Three Rivers was so that fans could rain boos and ice upon former Steelers QB Cliff Stoudt, appearing for the visiting Birmingham Stallions. July 16, 2020 8:00 am ET. what was bolivar's ultimate goal? [11] As part of the deal, the university leased Forbes back to the Pirates until a replacement could be built. [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. These seats were removed from 3 Rivers Stadium the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers & Pirates in Pittsburgh, PA. Home, the place of origin or a destination point, is where the heart is. 7/13/1973. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is demolished by implosion, Feb. 11, 2001. PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Roberto Clemente tallied his 3,000th hit within its walls on Sept. 30, 1972. In the aftermath of his death, fans and reporters alike lobbied to have Three Rivers renamed after Clemente, but the effort never gained enough traction. [63] The Pirates lifted their television blackout policy for home games so that local fans could see the inaugural game. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. [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. The stadium was . George Strait's Country Music Festival 1999. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, County of Allegheny Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Southwestern Pennsylvania World War II Memorial. Tuesday 00:00 . Three Rivers Stadium was demolished on February 11th, 2001 at 8 AM. Like all the other stadiums of its ilk and time, Three Rivers became an unattractive yet necessary link from ancient times to the modern age. When 70,000 peoplemany without ticketsattempted to force their way into a 1976 concert featuring ZZ Top and Aerosmith, leading to an injury count of at least 250, public officials debated whether to end rock music acts at Three Rivers. 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). Contact us at This Great Game. Contents Three rivers stadium implosion february 11 2001 at 8 00 am The university wanted the land for expanded graduate facilities. 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 . That decision was in turn reversed by the 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. [6] The stadium opened on July 16, 1970, when the Pirates played their first game there. [69] Three Rivers Stadium hosted seven AFC Championship Games from 1972 to 1997;[34][71] the Steelers won four. You could even throw in the University of Pittsburgh football team, which abandoned their own stadium on campus and borrowed Three Rivers for big games, most notably in a 1976 championship campaign featuring Heisman Trophy running back Tony Dorsett. Price: From $79.99 to $99.99. 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. After reaching such heavenly highs in Three Rivers Stadiums first decade, the Pirates almost had nowhere to go but down in the 1980s. 104 View Of Three Rivers Stadium Premium High Res Photos Browse 104 view of three rivers stadium stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. It was to call for a 70,000-seat stadium with hotels, marina, and a 100-lane bowling alley. Youre in a bowl.. A card-carrying member of the Cookie Cutter Society, Three Rivers Stadium was the cookie that needed a bite taken out of it to reveal downtown Pittsburgh for those inside. [11], In 1958, the Pirates sold Forbes to the University of Pittsburgh for $2 million ($18.8 million today). Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 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).. Returning the following year as a member of the Reds, the Pirates wasted no time abetting the acrimony from his former fans. [45] The venue also served as the premiere of the 1994 Disney film Angels in the Outfield which, despite being based around the California Angels, paid homage to the original 1951 film, which featured the Pirates in "heavenly" need.[46]. [67] On September 30, 1972, Pirates' right-fielder Roberto Clemente got his 3,000th hit at Three Rivers Stadium, three months before his death. 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. When Parker, who once said, Money isnt everythingpeace of mind is important to me, hit free agency in 1983, he wasted no time fleeing Pittsburgh. THREE RIVERS STADIUM Pittsburgh, PA For three decades along the banks of the Allegheny River sat Three Rivers Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. As groundbreaking on the stadium finally took place in 1968, the Bridge to Nowhere finally got somewhereand it wouldnt be just to ferry traffic to Three Rivers. The fans celebrated in the streets to Sister Sledges We Are Family, the Pirates adopted theme song of the 1979 campaign; Stargell, for his combination of sage and vintage strength at age 39, won co-NL MVP honors (with St. Louis Keith Hernandez) and the straight MVP for both the NLCS and World Series. Its spaciousness was evident from the outside; tall windows stretched upward and across, allowing patrons on cascading levels of table seating and barstools to enjoy the game while eating and/or imbibing. 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. Three Rivers Stadium implosion seen from Point State Park on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001. The stadium's name was derived from the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where they formed the Ohio River, the "Golden Triangle". That brought instant sentimentality of a kind upon a facility derided for so long by fans, but now embraced as a much-needed link from the iconic days of Forbes Field to the future days that lay ahead at the new venues. 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]. Players might have had a chance to enjoy the Allegheny Club after the game, but left fielders in particular didnt care for it during; the reflection of the stadiums lights off the clubs mass faade of windows made catching line drives in left an adventure. She sued the Pirates and their subsidiary that managed the stadium, arguing that the Baseball Rule, which usually prevents spectators at baseball games from holding teams liable for foul ball injuries, did not apply because she was away from the seating areas and not watching what was going on on the field. TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. A Billy Graham Crusade took place at Three Rivers in June, 1993. They could even look to the outside and see downtown, the three rivers and the hills beyond. Stadium officials notated the spot where they landed by later painting numbers on it. Sister Sledge, the We Are Family authors from the Bucs fabled 1979 campaign, reunited to sing the National Anthem. Throughout their 31 seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, the Steelers posted a record of 182-72, including a 13-5 playoff record. Three Rivers Stadium (sometimes referred to simply as 3RS or "TRS") was a multipurpose sports stadium and event facility located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Fifty years ago, on July 16, 1970, Three Rivers Stadium opened in Pittsburgh, Pa. 40 26.717 N, 80 0.833 W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. 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. Ballplayers initially embraced the Parrot as wellthough not for the same reason as the fans. The Pittsburgh Steelers played their first game in Three Rivers Stadium on September 20, 1970a 19-7 loss to the Houston Oilers. They were located behind home plate. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. 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. Champions in arms: The Pirates Willie Stargell and Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw earned co-Sportsmen of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated in 1979. Second photo is the dismantling of a section of the outfield wall at Forbes Field. Many of the sports fans who gathered along the Allegheny River that morning in 2001 had witnessed greatness in the stadium, and they now came to say farewell. Though they would recover, the bulk of their remaining time at Three Rivers Stadium was largely an excruciating exercise in debt-ridden futilityand even though some of the circumstances that led to their misfortunes were self-inflicted, it was clear that by the Bucs third decade at Three Rivers, a new home was badly needed. Have a comment, question or request? three rivers stadium home plate location. Locals mocked it as the Bridge to Nowhere.. Price: From $89.99 to $129.99. 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. 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. Thirty years after feeling stuck and helpless at an aging Forbes Field, the Pirates began to get that sinking feeling all over again at Three Rivers. This is the greatest day of my life, he told reporters. Touch for map. [33][62] The first pitch was thrown by Dock Ellisa striketo Ty Cline. After thirty years of being locked in at Three Rivers Stadium, who can blame them. Theres no atmosphere in this thing, said Hank Novak, a lifelong ballpark employee for the Pirates. Three Rivers Stadium presented itself as a fairer alternative to Forbes Field with its boilerplate field dimensions; no longer did Willie Stargell nor any other player have to drive a ball 400 feet and then hope that it cleared the fence. Most of the stadium's former site became a parking lot for PNC Park and Heinz Field. Tony Perez hit the stadiums first home run, and scored the game-winner in the top of the ninth on Lee Mays single. 2023 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved. You or your group will be treated to an all-inclusive premium buffet while enjoying the game from one of the best vantage points in the ballpark. It is in North Shore in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County Pennsylvania, Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, August 20, 2012. 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. Home plate is rocketed from Three Rivers Stadium to PNC Park after the final game. Except, according to the Post-Gazettes Robert Dvorchak, for a gas station which closed in 1980, unable to make a profit. 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. [11] It originally seated 50,611 for baseball,[11] but several expansions over the years brought it to 58,729. Can you believe its been 20 years since Three Rivers Stadium came crashing down? Pittsburgh beats Oakland 13-7 in an AFC Divisional playoff game on Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception. 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. Three Rivers Stadium Fun Facts: Opened in 1971 with a seating capacity of 59,000 for football. Pirates outfielder John Vander Wal warms up in front of the Kiss It Goodbye sign showing zero games remaining during the final game at Three Rivers Stadium. Meanwhile, the team found that their only way to replace Barry Bonds was to stick Al Martin in left field every night. The dual-sport structure had been the epicenter of Pittsburgh sports for 30 years since opening on July 16, 1970. . 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. One came out and delayed a 1986 game for seven minutes with his stinky presence. This was a premier spot for other big name concerts as well. On October 1, 2000, the Pirates played their final game at Three Rivers. [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. Three Rivers last concert featured NSync in July 2000, drawing 47,000. ", The Pittsburgh Steelers played their first game in Three Rivers Stadium on September 20, 1970a 197 loss to the Houston Oilers. The Steelers moved a few yards away to their new home at Heinz Field, while the Pirates took a short walk upriver to PNC Park. "A guy did get me the ball from the last home run, yes," said Wehner. [34] Throughout their 31seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, the Steelers posted a record of 18272, including a 13-5 playoff record, and defeated every visiting franchise at least once from the stadium's opening to close, enjoying perfect records there against seven teams. Koch would even get high on his own supply while doing Parrot duty, which must have made for the most kaleidoscopic experience by an employee of the Pirates since Dock Ellis claimed he threw a 1970 no-hitter on LSD. In a 1984 game, 18 fans at a Pirates game suffered burns of various degrees when a rocket from a fireworks display was accidentally fired into the crowd. 7/30/1972. Past skippers including Jim Leyland, Chuck Tanner and Bill Virdon joined manager Gene Lamont to deliver the Pirates lineup. The novel look, which would catch on throughout much of the major leagues in the years to follow, yielded plenty of odd looksand laughsfrom the home fans, comparing the Pirates look to that of a weekend softball team, while one sportswriter said the unis reminded him of long underwear.. No perfect game was ever thrown at Three Rivers, but in 1981 the Pirates Jim Bibby retired 27 Atlanta batters in a row after allowing a leadoff single in the first inning. Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. The scandal devastated the Pirates organization; the team sank in the standings, bottoming out with a 104-loss campaign in 1985. He hit three of them before anyone else did it even once. Three Rivers Stadium was simply not a good place to take in a game. The Steelers won 17 Monday Night Football games at Three Rivers Stadium. On a chilly February morning in 2001, over 20,000 people picked out vantage points at a safe distance to watch Three Rivers Stadium implode to the ground, leaving a cloud of dust that drifted upon the Allegheny like a creeping fog bank. Thousands of souvenirs had already made their way into the hands of fans. (May or June, 1986) Though spacious Forbes Field was perfectly suited for Clementes brand of line-drive hitting, he found Three Rivers to be no problem. (Historic Pittsburgh). Mary Ann and her husband were Steelers season ticket holders for 42 years until Paul, 61, passed away that year. Three Rivers Stadium hosted the first MLB postseason game ever played on artificial turf (1970), the first World Series night game (1971), and the first League Championship Series night contest (1972). The debt was finally retired by 2010. Open now. In southwestern Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, the county seat of Allegheny County, lies partly in a hilly region known as the Golden Triangle, the location of the city's business district. Three Rivers Stadium implosion as seen from Point State Park. The 1970s: A crowning decade . [52][53] With the newly constructed Heinz Field only 80 feet (24m) away, effects from the blast were a concern. Three Rivers has the educational foundation you need to transfer your credits or get specialized career training. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. (The story is disputed, but its a good one.). 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. It was followed closely by crowds of 60,000-plus for the Rolling Stones and Genesis. Three Rivers structural concrete was grounded down and recycled for nearby parking lots. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Perhaps the Pirates biggest fan at Three Rivers Stadium was Steelers owner Art Rooney, who worked by day for his football team and, every night, moved up to one of the box suites to watch the Pirates. The stadium opened in 1970 and was home to the Pittsburgh Steelers football team and the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. This view of Three Rivers Stadium from Mount Washington, about a mile away on the south side of downtown Pittsburgh, shows Point State Park where the Allegheny River (next to the stadium) joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River. It was very nice. The former home of the Pirates . The final game in the stadium was won by the Steelers on December 16, 2000. King and Charles Mingus. 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. Throngs of people gather at Point State Park to get a view of the implosion. 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. Its enclosed nature was a necessity of compromise, a confluence of sports teams near a confluence of rivers, yielding a confluence of championship glory before tough times set inmost certainly for a Pirates team that found progress in the modern age a steep slope to climb. Two months later, on Dec. 16, the Steelers played their final game at Three Rivers, defeating the Washington Redskins 24-3. If Three Rivers Stadium gave the Pirates an early boost, it completely transformed the Steelers into a long-term powerhouse. 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. 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. [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. 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. . 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 perfect storm hit the Bucs after the 1992 season, facing an offseason in which free agents Bonds, ace pitcher Doug Drabek and Gold Glove second baseman Jose Lind all departed for richer teams in bigger markets because the Pirates simply lacked the capital to retain them. You could sit in the stands and see Flagstaff Hill and Schenley Park. [15][17] Arguments were made by commissioner (and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner) Dr. William McCelland that the Pirates and Steelers should fund a higher percentage of the $33million project ($275.6 million today). He was forced to go back to the drawing board when construction bids to realize his design were $10 million over budget. [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. They slapped tarps in the upper reaches of the top deck to reduce capacity by 10,000; placed ads on the outfield walls; opened a caf behind the left-field fence, which had slats cut out so patrons could view the game; replaced the original red-and-gold seats with new ones painted in blue; and opened a full-scale restaurant, featuring two bars serving microbrews, near the southeast entrance with glass windows looking out towards downtown Pittsburgh. 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 Ballparks: PNC Park If the Pittsburgh Pirates sense that theyre being ignored by their faithful at PNC Park, they shouldnt take it personally; after all, the teams only competition isnt sitting in the visitors dugout. PNC Park grandly looks out toward downtown Pittsburgh and is constantly acknowledged as one of baseballs best ballparks. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country. Courtesy of Pittsburgh Steelers Collection. . = 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. Breaking up the symmetry in the middle deck at left is the Allegheny Club, an expansive restaurant and lounge seating up to 700. Essentially, Ritchey envisioned PNC Park and Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) four decades before they were built. [44] And in 1992, the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated their second Stanley Cup victory at the Stadium. Stargell was a man of such power, nothing at Three Rivers seemed to be outside of his reach. Three Rivers Stadium implosion seen from Point State Park on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001. The reverse could be said for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers during the first of three decades they called Three Rivers Stadium home: Seemingly, everything the gold (and black) touched turned them into kings.