Three Rivers Stadium
| The Blast Furnace The House that Clemente Built |
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| Location | 600 Stadium Circle Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212 |
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| Coordinates | 40°26′48″N 80°0′46″W / 40.44667°N 80.01278°WCoordinates: 40°26′48″N 80°0′46″W / 40.44667°N 80.01278°W |
| Owner | City of Pittsburgh |
| Operator | Pittsburgh Stadium Authority |
| Capacity |
Football: 59,000 Baseball: 47,971 |
| Field size |
Left Field — 335 ft / 102 m Left-Center — 375 ft / 114 m Center Field — 400 ft / 122 m Right-Center — 375 ft / 114 m Right Field — 335 ft / 102 m Wall height — 10 ft / 3 m |
| Surface |
Tartan Turf (1970–1982) AstroTurf (1983–2000) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 25, 1968 |
| Opened | July 16, 1970 |
| Closed | December 16, 2000 |
| Demolished | February 11, 2001 |
| Construction cost | US$55 million ($359 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Deeter Ritchy Sipple Michael Baker, Jr. |
| Structural engineer | Osborn Engineering |
| Services engineer | Elwood S. Tower Consulting Engineers |
| General contractor | Huber, Hunt & Nichols/Mascaro |
| Tenants | |
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Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) (1970–2000) Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) (1970–2000) Pittsburgh Maulers (USFL) (1984) Pittsburgh Panthers (NCAA) (2000) |
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| Designated | November 26, 2007 |
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).
Built as a replacement for Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, the US$55 million ($359.2 million today) multi-purpose facility was designed to maximize efficiency. Ground was broken in April 1968 and an oft behind-schedule construction plan lasted for 29 months. The stadium opened on July 16, 1970 when the Pirates played their first game. In the 1971 World Series, Three Rivers Stadium hosted the first World Series game played at night. The following year the stadium was the site of the Immaculate Reception. The final game in the stadium was won by the Steelers on December 16, 2000. 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.
After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, and the Pirates and Steelers each moved into newly built stadiums: PNC Park and Heinz Field, respectively.
A proposal for a new sports stadium in Pittsburgh was first made in 1948; however, plans did not attract much attention until the late 1950s. The Pittsburgh Pirates played their home games at Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, and was the second oldest venue in the National League (Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium was oldest, having opened only two months earlier than Forbes). The Pittsburgh Steelers, who had moved from Forbes Field to Pitt Stadium in 1964, were large supporters of the project. For their part, according to longtime Pirates announcer Bob Prince, the Pirates wanted a bigger place to play in order to draw more revenue.
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