PNC Park
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A view of the field from upper-level seating
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| Address | 115 Federal Street |
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| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°26′49″N 80°0′21″W / 40.44694°N 80.00583°WCoordinates: 40°26′49″N 80°0′21″W / 40.44694°N 80.00583°W |
| Public transit |
 North Side
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| Owner | Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County |
| Operator | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Capacity | 37,898 (2001–2003) 38,496 (2004–2007) 38,362 (2008–present) |
| Record attendance | 40,889 (October 7, 2015) |
| Field size |
Left Field – 325 feet (99 m) Left-Center – 383 feet (117 m) Deep Left-Center Field – 410 feet (125 m) Center Field – 399 feet (122 m) Right-Center – 375 feet (114 m) Right Field – 320 feet (98 m) Backstop – 51 feet (16 m) |
| Surface | Tuckahoe Bluegrass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | , 1999 |
| Opened | , 2001 |
| Construction cost | US$216 million ($292 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect |
Populous (then HOK Sport) L.D. Astorino & Associates |
| Project manager | Project Management Consultants LLC |
| Structural engineer | Thornton-Tomasetti Group Inc. |
| Services engineer | M*E Engineers |
| General contractor | Dick Corporation/Barton Malow JV |
| Tenants | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) (2001–present) | |
PNC Park is a baseball park located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. It opened during the 2001 MLB season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium. The ballpark is sponsored by PNC Financial Services, which purchased the naming rights in 1998. PNC Park features a natural grass playing surface and seats 38,362 people for baseball.
Funded in conjunction with Heinz Field and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the $216 million park stands along the Allegheny River, on the North Shore of Pittsburgh with a view of Downtown Pittsburgh. Plans to build a new stadium for the Pirates originated in 1991, but did not come to fruition for 5 years. Built in the style of "classic" stadiums, such as Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, PNC Park also introduced unique features, such as the use of limestone in the building's facade. The park also features a riverside concourse, steel truss work, an extensive out-of-town scoreboard, and many local eateries. Constructed faster than most modern stadiums, PNC Park was built in a 24-month span.
On September 5, 1991, Pittsburgh mayor Sophie Masloff proposed a new 44,000-seat stadium for the Pittsburgh Pirates on the city's Northside.Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates' home at the time, had been designed for functionality rather than "architecture and aesthetics". The location of Three Rivers Stadium came to be criticized for being in a hard-to-access portion of the city, where traffic congestion occurred before and after games. Discussions about a new ballpark took place, but were never seriously considered until entrepreneur Kevin McClatchy purchased the team in February 1996. Until McClatchy's purchase, plans about the team remaining in Pittsburgh were uncertain. In 1996, Masloff's successor, Tom Murphy, created the "Forbes Field II Task Force". Made up of 29 political and business leaders, the team studied the challenges of constructing a new ballpark. Their final report, published on June 26, 1996, evaluated 13 possible locations. The "North Side site" was recommended due to its affordable cost, potential to develop the surrounding area, and opportunity to incorporate the city skyline into the stadium's design. The site selected for the ballpark is just upriver from the site of early Pirates home field Exposition Park.
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