University Times

Agreement in principle reached on Pitt's use of new Steelers stadium

Pitt has reached an agreement in principle with the Steelers to play home football games in the new North Side stadium beginning in 2001. Director of Athletics Steve Pederson announced the agreement at the Staff Association Council spring assembly yesterday.

Pederson also announced that the University plans to construct a new outdoor facility on campus for the soccer and track teams, which will be displaced by the razing of Pitt Stadium after this fall's football season.

The agreement with the Steelers calls for a 29-year lease, with an option for renewal. "We're happy to be getting in on the ground floor of what will be the finest stadium in America," Pederson said.

"It will be our stadium on Saturdays and it will look like it's our stadium." He added that there will be no alcohol sales at Pitt games and that University officials are working to ensure that students can be transported easily to the off-campus stadium on game days.

Steelers communications coordinator Ron Wahl confirmed Pederson's announcement of a 29-year renewable leasing arrangement. "There is no timetable yet for signing an agreement, but, yes, we have agreed [to share the stadium] with Pitt," Wahl said. "We're happy to have them."

Pederson said that while short-term options for the soccer and track teams are not finalized, the teams will be able to continue competing. "The Big East very shortly will issue an edict that [conference] soccer games cannot be held on Astroturf," Pederson said. "We would have had to look at other options anyway."

He stressed that the plans for a new outdoor track/soccer facility are very preliminary. "Right now, we're looking at [on-campus] sites, just to begin the process."

In the short term, soccer teams likely will practice and play at Sewickley Academy. Some field events and practices already take place at Carnegie Mellon's football facility, Pederson said. "The need now is to find a suitable track."

Pederson said that the current track at Pitt Stadium is inadequate for hosting large-scale events because it is seven lanes wide and regional and national competitions require an eight-lane track. "I'd love for Pitt to host the Big East [track] championships, for example, but we could never do it at the stadium."

Pederson also announced:

* Football operations will move entirely to the new South Side facility being built by UPMC Health System in partnership with the Steelers as soon as that facility opens. The facility is expected to be ready early next year.

* Athletics administration offices, currently housed in Pitt Stadium, will be re-built in the new convocation center planned for the stadium site.

* Men's and women's basketball teams will continue playing at Fitzgerald Field House until the convocation center is completed.

* The University is pursuing the sale of naming rights to the new convocation center, either to a donor or a corporate sponsor.

* There will be an auxiliary basketball court for practices built in the new convocation center to avoid conflicts with non-athletic center events, like concerts or assemblies.

* The convocation center also will house upgraded athletics support services, including more study areas.

* The scoreboard currently in Pitt Stadium will be preserved and put to use elsewhere. A new home for the scoreboard has not been determined.

* A committee will be formed, with campus-wide representation, to plan events around this fall's football season at Pitt Stadium. Emphasis will be on the final game, Nov. 13 against Notre Dame.

* Pitt is negotiating with the city to upgrade Mazeroski Field, adjacent to Mervis Hall, to make it more suitable for Pitt softball games.

–Peter Hart