They received the honor of hosting the very last event at Three Rivers, easily dispensing of the Washington Redskins, 24-3. 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. 15 years later, the midsummer classic returned in 1994. [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. [9] The same site had hosted Exposition Park, which the Pirates had left in 1909. It had hotels. Numerous seats were auctioned off, including 3,727 of the blue field level seatssnapped up by the minor-league Long Island Ducks. This was a premier spot for other big name concerts as well. Dave Nightengale wrote of the stadium having all the life of a funeral parlor. 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. 40 26.717 N, 80 0.833 W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. Appears to be made of some kind of wood. 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. Though spacious Forbes Field was perfectly suited for Clementes brand of line-drive hitting, he found Three Rivers to be no problem. A three level parking garage accommodating 2,500 cars encased the stadium with the entry gates to the stadium on the second (green) level. The initial chatter toward a modern stadium actually predated the universitys purchase of Forbes by a decade. It is in North Shore in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County Pennsylvania, Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, August 20, 2012. The implosion of Three Rivers Stadium with the Fort Duquesne Bridge over the Allegheny River. Now, Wagner stands guard in front of the home-plate entrance at PNC Park on the corner of General Robinson Street and Mazeroski Way. However, the ushers' union declined the uniform change for female workers. Due to lack of support, however, the arguments faded. Buying was a consortium of private and public sources, meant as a stopgap to keep the team in Pittsburgh and buy time to find a longer-term owner who had yet to come along. He hit three of them before anyone else did it even once. Once the dust cloud dissipated, the crumbled remains become visible. 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. [66] In 1979, the Pirates again won a World Championship, yet again defeating the Baltimore Orioles in a seven-game World Series. Away from the North Side, one wild thought was to build a massive land bridge over the Monongahela River that would hold a stadium sitting on top of a multiple-story parking garage accompanied by twin skyscrapers. In the case of the Pirates, those good timesand high times, nudge-nudgecame crashing down upon them in a thoroughly depressing, scandal-ridden second decade to follow. Home to 14 AFC Central Division champion teams. 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). It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). 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. 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 implosion as seen from Point State Park. April 1985: General view of Three Rivers Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, during a Major League Baseball game in April 1985 in Pittsburgh,. [9] For their part, according to longtime Pirates announcer Bob Prince, the Pirates wanted a bigger place to play in order to draw more revenue. The idea came from Forbes Field, Ritchey told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2001 of his ballpark design. 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. 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. [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. Champions in arms: The Pirates Willie Stargell and Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw earned co-Sportsmen of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated in 1979. While the Pirates represented baseball tradition, the Steelers represented PittsburghTough, hard-nosed, grim-featured, not so fancy, wrote The Sporting News Furman Bisher. Flickr photos, groups, and tags related to the "threeriversstadium" Flickr tag. [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. 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 Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. They are devoid of personality, emotionally indistinguishable even when one knows perfectly well their specific different characteristics, he wrote. Eventually the 1980s came along and concert crowds began to mellow with age. Doug Loizeaux, Marks older brother and vice president of Controlled Demolition, Inc., was happy to report that there was no debris within 40 feet (12m) of Heinz Field. Photographed By Unknown, September 30, 1972. [15] Construction continued, though it became plagued with problems such as thieves stealing materials from the building site. The Three Rivers clubhouse was derisively nicknamed The National League Drugstore, the focal point for Baseballs biggest drug scandal; not only did it result in a 12-year prison sentence for Shiffman (Koch became an informant and ratted him out), but it also forged testimony from some of his major league clients, big names such as Dave Parker, Keith Hernandez and Tim Raineswho were all granted immunity to talk. The Pirates move to Three Rivers Stadium failed to domesticate the base. Meanwhile, the team found that their only way to replace Barry Bonds was to stick Al Martin in left field every night. 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. Opened on July 16, 1970. Three Rivers Stadium; if it wasn't the most picturesque coliseum in American sports history, it was perhaps one of the most perfectly named. = 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 Panthers played their full home schedule there for the 2000 season, going 74. [32] In 1993, the Pirates placed tarps on most of the upper deck to create a better baseball atmosphere, reducing capacity to 47,687. It had office buildings. [13] Plans of the "Stadium over the Monongahela" were eventually not pursued. 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. 49 were here. The final Pittsburgh Steelers home game was played on December 16th, 2000 vs. the Washington Redskins. Sister Sledge, the We Are Family authors from the Bucs fabled 1979 campaign, reunited to sing the National Anthem. 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. [23][24] It would sometimes be called The House That Clemente Built after Pirates' right-fielder Roberto Clemente. The longest game at the stadium was played on August 6, 1989, when Jeff King hit a walk-off home run 5hours and 42minutes into the 18-inning contest, as the Pirates once again beat the Cubs 54. Three Rivers has the educational foundation you need to transfer your credits or get specialized career training. 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. [30][31] Due to their similar design these stadiums were nicknamed "cookie-cutter" or "concrete doughnut" ballparks. Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. 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. After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, and the Pirates and Steelers each moved into newly built stadiums. Terry Bradshaw was a frequent target of boosbut his successors at the quarterback spot fared far worse. 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. Site of Three Rivers Stadium in background. Call: (847)636-5450 The Parrot was an instant hit and remains a popular asset to this day at PNC Park. 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 . 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. 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. Some fans from out of town would reserve hotels in downtown Pittsburgh before attending an event at the Stadium.