Highmark Stadium
 |
|
 |
|
| Location |
Station Square, 510 West Station Square Drive Pittsburgh PA 15219 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°26′10″N 80°0′34″W / 40.43611°N 80.00944°WCoordinates: 40°26′10″N 80°0′34″W / 40.43611°N 80.00944°W |
| Owner | Terry "Tuffy" Shallenberger (Majority) |
| Operator | Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
| Capacity | 3,500 (Soccer) Approx. 10,000 (Concerts) |
| Field size | 110 x 70 |
| Surface | FIFA 2-Star Certified hybrid-turf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | June 25, 2012 |
| Opened | April 13, 2013 |
| Construction cost | $10.2 million |
| Architect | ThenDesign Architecture, Inc. |
| Project manager | Millcraft Industries, Inc. |
| Structural engineer | Alber & Rice, Inc. |
| General contractor | Nello Construction |
| Tenants | |
|
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL) (2013–present) Pittsburgh Passion (WFA) (2013–2015) Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 (PDL) (2014–present) |
|
Highmark Stadium is a 3,500-seat soccer-specific stadium in Pittsburgh's Station Square which is home to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL. The stadium also houses the Pittsburgh Passion women's football team, three local colleges use the stadium for soccer, lacrosse and rugby, and six different local high schools will use the field for soccer and lacrosse. The $10.2 million project began with the demolishing and excavating of the former Trib Total Media Amphitheatre, building foundations for the scoreboard, light poles and grading foundations for the grandstands as well as the installation of underground utilities. The field surface is FIFA 2-star certified artificial turf, the highest rating that an artificial surface can achieve, one of only six fields in the country to earn that rating. Other fields to earn this rating in the United States include: Providence Park, CenturyLink Field, and Gillette Stadium, all of which house Major League Soccer franchises.
On August 1, 2015, the supporters' section was renamed the Paul Child Stand in honor of Pittsburgh soccer legend Paul Child. About Highmark Stadium, Benjamin Zand of the BBC once said it is "[...]probably the most beautiful stadium I've ever seen."
Since the team's creation, there had been no official announcement concerning a permanent home for the Hounds, but much had been speculated since GM and manager Gene Klein, on 13 July 2007, said that the Riverhounds "are to the point on the stadium complex where it is a matter of paperwork and it will get done. We hope to make an official announcement on it...but like everything else, we'll walk with it before we try and run. We are doing things the right way." On 9 July 2008, Dan Onorato, Chief Executive of Allegheny County, announced a planned development of a 78-acre (320,000 m2) sports and recreation park that covers area near Pittsburgh in Coraopolis, Robinson, and Moon known as Montour Junction. The land was donated to the county's Redevelopment Authority by the Sports Legacy Foundation, which is chaired by Riverhounds founder and former owner Paul Heasley. The SLF had owned the land since 2002 and had already spent about $60k for the environmental cleanup of the land, which was once owned by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and had been declared a brownfield. The proposed uses for the park included soccer pitches as well as other multipurpose team sports fields such as rugby and lacrosse. It was believed by many that a stadium would be built around one of the fields and that it would likely become a permanent home for the Hounds. However, none of these earlier plans materialized.
...
Wikipedia