A 16-year-old boy won a raffle to push the button that began the detonation. It also featured a Pirates Hall of Fame which, at one stage, included wax figures of Honus Wagner, Pie Traynor and Roberto Clemente wearing the uniforms of their times. But few expected the team to plummet deep into the Hades of Baseball. As bad as sports fans were at Three Rivers, those attending concerts were even worse. In the 1971 World Series, Three Rivers Stadium hosted the first World Series game played at night. February 11, 2001, Pittsburgh said goodbye to Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. The scoreboard was located above the centerfield seats in the upper deck. Due to lack of support, however, the arguments faded. It was also the first playoff victory in franchise history. (The story is disputed, but its a good one.). There was exactly one good thing about Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The ballpark has a seating capacity of 41,500 with the main three tier grandstand stretching from the right field foul pole to home plate and down, and around the left field foul pole. Three Rivers Stadium Three Rivers Stadium and sports on the Northside of Pittsburgh Operating as usual 10/01/2022 Remembering Roberto: Home plate memorial honoring his 3,000th hit to be placed in the North Shore https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/remembering-roberto-home-plate-memorial-honoring-his-3000th-hit-to-be-placed-in-the-north-shore/ 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. Roberto Clemente, aging like fine wine at 37, batted .341 and dominated the postseason to followhitting .387, shining on defense from the outfield, and earning World Series MVP honors as the Bucs came back from an early 2-0 series hole to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in seven games. 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. [36] A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story in 1970 stated that the new stadium boasted 1,632 floodlight bulbs. Three Rivers Stadium and sports on the Northside of Pittsburgh [9] The same site had hosted Exposition Park, which the Pirates had left in 1909. 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. You can see the top of Fort Pittsburgh Bridge (I-279) at the bottom. Three Rivers Stadium Home Venues Rock Doo Wop Radio Jazz Pop Blues Thirty Years of Stadium Rock Three Rivers Stadium during its short 30 year existence from 1970 to 2000 hosted almost 50. The Steelers sold out every home game from 1972 through the closing of the stadium, a streak which continues through 2008. 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. Besides the new stadium itself, there was synthetic Tartan Turf on the field, a cushier, more agreeable alternative to AstroTurf; and the Pirates broke out of the clubhouse as the first team to wear double-knit, buttonless jerseys. [14] A design was presented in 1958 which featured an open centerfield designthrough which fans could view Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle". . Without a hitch, a 1985 Bruce Springsteen gig at Three Rivers drew 65,000, the largest gathering for any event at the stadium. [14] The following season, the Pirates advanced to the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. 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). The man got out, ran onto the field and began kicking footballs through the goalposts. It is in North Shore. These seats were removed from 3 Rivers Stadium the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers & Pirates in Pittsburgh, PA. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. Three Rivers Stadiums original scoreboard extends out above the outfield wall. [17] As well, its location made it hard to reach from much of the city, with traffic congestion before and after games. 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. Advertisement. Franco Harris rushed for 27 100-yard games at Three Rivers Stadium. 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.. Stadium was still under construction due to labor disputes and later opened on 7.16.70 against the Reds. Three Rivers Stadium; if it wasn't the most picturesque coliseum in American sports history, it was perhaps one of the most perfectly named. June 30, 1995: Grateful Dead played their last Pittsburgh show. 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. Touch for map. 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 Things to Do in Three Rivers, California: See Tripadvisor's 15,126 traveler reviews and photos of Three Rivers tourist attractions. Following the season on New Years Eve, Clemente boarded a DC-7 in his native Puerto Rico on its way to Nicaragua to provide aid for victims of a recent earthquake; the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean moments after takeoff, killing Clemente and four others onboard. Sunday 00:00 - 00:00. On October 1, 2000, the Pirates played their final game at Three Rivers. 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. Downtown Pittsburgh peaks over the top of the other side. They were located behind home plate. 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. 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. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Taken from former site and placed in front of Heinz Field. It was very nice. 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. 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. Arch. 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 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. Throngs of people gather at Point State Park to get a view of the implosion. 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. 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. 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. Some fans from out of town would reserve hotels in downtown Pittsburgh before attending an event at the Stadium. Location. The Steelers would lose the following week at Three Rivers to the Miami Dolphinson their way to being the first undefeated team in the Super Bowl erabut the Steelers permanently shed their loser image, beginning a brilliant run of football that would net them four Super Bowl trophies over a six-year period. If anything else, the threat brought the various public agencies together toward a budget agreement. It was perched right at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers, walking distance from downtown Pittsburgh. The 1970s: A crowning decade . [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. You can contact Steven at sadams@triblive.com. Wagner, Kiner and Clemente could all agree that excitement was never in short supply at the Old Lady of Schenley Park. 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. In his heyday, everything King Midas touched turned to gold. [64] The Pirates' lowest season of attendance was 1985, at an average of 9,085. It was to call for a 70,000-seat stadium with hotels, marina, and a 100-lane bowling alley. [41][42] On August 11, 1985,[43] Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band hosted the largest concert in Pittsburgh history, when they performed for 65,935 on-lookers. Official fundraiser page for Pittsburgh Baseball HISTORY TRAIL, THREE RIVERS STADIUM HOME PLATE and Informational Marker As the development of the land. Many other witnesses agreed. 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. Among visiting players at Three Rivers, the Phillies Mike Schmidt hit the most home runs with 25including his 500th career round-tripper in 1987. 7/14/1973. A Billy Graham Crusade took place at Three Rivers in June, 1993. Aerial view of the Golden Triangle and Three Rivers Stadium, with parking areas still under construction. The broadcast crew consisted of the original MNF trio of Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith. A look at Three Rivers Stadium from the top of the upper-deck bleacher seats. 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. [66] In 1979, the Pirates again won a World Championship, yet again defeating the Baltimore Orioles in a seven-game World Series. DRS principal Dahlen Ritchey, who grew up a big Pirates fan and forever regretted the day he gave away his Game Seven tickets to the 1960 World Series (because he was sure the Pirates would lose), initially lobbied for separate side-by-side stadiums for the Pirates and Steelerswith the Bucs ballpark providing an open view beyond its outfield of downtown. 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]. 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. Roughly a decade later, outfielder Andy Van Slyke had a cigarette lighter thrown in his direction; upon picking it up, Van Slyke read an attached message that said, Use this to light a fire under you. His teammate, Bobby Bonillain the midst of an All-Star season in 1988was heavily booed at Three Rivers because his home batting average was 100 points lower than on the road. 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. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. Mary Ann and her husband were Steelers season ticket holders for 42 years until Paul, 61, passed away that year. When Heinz Field opened, Coca-Cola also assumed the beverage contract for that stadium (the Pirates signed a deal with Pepsi for PNC Park before signing with Coke again in 2014), and also became the primary sponsor for the Steelers' team Hall of Fame, the Coca-Cola Great Hall. At the time, the stadium still had a debt of just less than .