But a return to the championship podium, reviving memories of Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, remained elusive; they lost the 1990 NLCS to the Reds in six games, led the 1991 NLCS against Atlanta three games to two before being shut out twice at Three Rivers to bow out, then lost again to the Braves in 1992 when, with a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth in Game Seven, they gave up three runs to suffer a third straight pennant defeat. 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. It was a cold Sunday, Feb. 11 20 years ago that a demolition crew reduced Three Rivers Stadium to a heap of rubble and twisted steel. [49] Two months later on December 16, 2000, the Steelers concluded play at Three Rivers Stadium, with a 243 victory over the Washington Redskins.[50]. 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. = 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. 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. He hit three of them before anyone else did it even once. 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. [63] The Pirates lifted their television blackout policy for home games so that local fans could see the inaugural game. [33][62] The first pitch was thrown by Dock Ellisa striketo Ty Cline. You could sit in the stands and see Flagstaff Hill and Schenley Park. The Parrot was an instant hit and remains a popular asset to this day at PNC Park. 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. Sets of 2-3 Steel Seat Feet for Three Rivers Stadium Floor MOUNTING Seats from the former home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1979, the Pirates introduced the Pirate Parrot, a mascot patterned after the successful debut of the Phillie Phanatic in Philadelphia a year earlier. 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. And while the Bridge to Nowhere did get complete and got somewhere, some of the other promised access roads around the stadium never materialized. After thirty years of being locked in at Three Rivers Stadium, who can blame them. After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers moved into newly built dedicated stadiums: PNC Park and Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium), respectively. Numerous seats were auctioned off, including 3,727 of the blue field level seatssnapped up by the minor-league Long Island Ducks. 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. Three Rivers Stadium was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. Three Rivers Stadium and sports on the Northside of Pittsburgh After sharing this park with the football Steelers for 30 years, the Pirates got their own new park in 2001. 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. When Rooney passed away in 1988, his officealready drenched with reference books and memorabiliabecame a library. It was very nice. Call: (847)636-5450 [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. After the initial 10-year contract expired, Heinz Field contracted with Pepsi for exclusive pouring rights, breaking a 50-year tradition with the Steelers. 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. While the Pirates and the public powers couldnt tear down Three Rivers and copy Oriole Park at Camden Yards upon its footprintnot yet, anywaythey did try to give the stadium a more colorful and cozier vibe. 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. 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. 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.. 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. Fans embraced the Steelers in a way never felt by the Pirates; blue-collar fans somehow scraped up enough cash to fill the joint over and over againfrom 1972 on, the Steelers sold out every game at Three Riversand formed rabid fan groups celebrating players from Franco Harris to placekicker Roy Gerela. At the time, the stadium still had a debt of just less than . Jack Tatum hit the intended receiver, 'Frenchy' Fuqua, and knocked the ball back to Harris, who caught it and ran into the end zone. It was to call for a 70,000-seat stadium with hotels, marina, and a 100-lane bowling alley. This is the greatest day of my life, he told reporters. [18] three rivers stadium home plate location. The Pittsburgh Steelers played their first game in Three Rivers Stadium on September 20, 1970a 19-7 loss to the Houston Oilers. [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. But few expected the team to plummet deep into the Hades of Baseball. The National League won the game 72 and the Pirates' Ken Brett was the winning pitcher. Get this for your collection. If anything else, the threat brought the various public agencies together toward a budget agreement. . Home to 14 AFC Central Division champion teams. 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. Three Dog Night. It took just 19 seconds for a colossal Pittsburgh sports landmark to collapse. [36] A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story in 1970 stated that the new stadium boasted 1,632 floodlight bulbs. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, County of Allegheny Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Southwestern Pennsylvania World War II Memorial. Even the pleasing evergreen views beyond the fences from inside Forbes Field were rapidly being overcome by industry and other inevitable forms of development. They are devoid of personality, emotionally indistinguishable even when one knows perfectly well their specific different characteristics, he wrote. 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. Fans missed Forbes Field more as each year passed. Stadium Concert. Returning the following year as a member of the Reds, the Pirates wasted no time abetting the acrimony from his former fans. The formal closing ceremony centers on home plate. Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. The rubble of Three Rivers Stadium towers over passersby Sunday, Feb. 11, 2001 on the North Side. [15] Construction continued, though it became plagued with problems such as thieves stealing materials from the building site. Jun 06, 1999 -. PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. June 30, 1995: Grateful Dead played their last Pittsburgh show. [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. 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. One came out and delayed a 1986 game for seven minutes with his stinky presence. Fifty years ago, on July 16, 1970, Three Rivers Stadium opened in Pittsburgh, Pa. Champions in arms: The Pirates Willie Stargell and Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw earned co-Sportsmen of the Year honors by Sports Illustrated in 1979. . Skunks were said to live under the stadium. 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. April 1985: General view of Three Rivers Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, during a Major League Baseball game in April 1985 in Pittsburgh,. It was perched right at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers, walking distance from downtown Pittsburgh. Open now. After being hotly debated throughout the entire southwestern Pennsylvania region the initiative was soundly defeated in all 11 counties; only in Allegheny County was it even close (58-42). . Fans had to walk down ramps to get to the field (blue) level of seats. [9] The same site had hosted Exposition Park, which the Pirates had left in 1909. Pittsburgh beats Oakland 13-7 in an AFC Divisional playoff game on Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception. Three Rivers Stadium, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers from 1970 to 2000. The home of the Steelers and Pirates had been rendered obsolete by the pair of stadiums now flanking the aging concrete cylinder. It took just 19 seconds for a colossal Pittsburgh sports landmark to collapse. Yes, Three Rivers Stadium was another one of those venues people now love to hate: A perfectly circular hunk of concrete largely adorned with slightly angled spectator ramps perfectly spaced between four large welcoming gates. Asset Location: 7500 Thomas Blvd Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208-2577 . It contained a symmetrical monotony with all the personality of a breakfast buffet bowla bowl detached from the river in a wasteland of parking areas, wrote author Rob Lubove. The look of the stadium, meanwhile, would be the responsibility of Deeter Ritchey Sipple (DRS), which drew up the beautiful downtown plaza Mellon Square and the highly acclaimed Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, the first sports structure with a retractable roof. 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. Losing the view of downtown was a bitter bill for Ritchey to swallow; he would ultimately call Three Rivers Stadium his biggest disappointment as an architect. 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. 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. Roberto Clemente statue outside Three Rivers Stadium is shown on October 16, 1994 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That late surge fueled a 1979 season in which a lively unit, led by clubhouse father figure Stargell, won nearly 100 games, swept the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Championship Series and, in a virtual repeat of their 1971 world title, again faced the Oriolesand again came back from two games down, winning the final three contests for their second (and last) World Series conquest in the Three Rivers era. (Jerry Reuss), Three Rivers Stadium never worked out for the Galbreath family, which had owned the Pirates since 1946. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. Former Pirates manager Chuck tanner acknowledges the crowd before the final game at Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium was simply not a good place to take in a game. Breaking up the symmetry in the middle deck at left is the Allegheny Club, an expansive restaurant and lounge seating up to 700. 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. Three Rivers Stadium, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1970 through 2000, was located in the North Shore section of Pittsburgh. 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. 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. The Steelers won 13 home playoff games at Three Rivers Stadium. As for the game itself, the Cincinnati Redswho just 17 days earlier debuted in Riverfront Stadium, the appearance and name of which would confuse many with Three Riversedged out the Bucs, 3-2. [29], Three Rivers Stadium was similar in design to other stadiums built in the 1960s and 1970s, such as RFK Stadium in Washington, Shea Stadium in New York, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the Houston Astrodome, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, and Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, which were designed as multi-purpose facilities to maximize efficiency. It's been 20 years since the home of the Pirates and Steelers was imploded before the new stadiums were opened. When the dust settled, the remains were visible. The broadcast crew consisted of the original MNF trio of Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith. Underneath the big furry costume was Kevin Koch, the Pirate Parrots first portrayerand, as it would infamously be revealed, a cocaine user and middleman between dealers and ballplayers in both clubhouses. [9] The Pittsburgh Pirates played their home games at Forbes Field, which opened in 1909,[10] and was the second oldest venue in the National League (Philadelphia's Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium was oldest, having opened only two months prior to Forbes). [44] And in 1992, the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated their second Stanley Cup victory at the Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000.