End of an era: Washington Wild Things eyes replacement of seats from Three Rivers Stadium
The last remnants of a Pittsburgh sports landmark will be disappearing from the local landscape.
When EQT Park in North Franklin Township was built nearly 25 years ago, many of the seats came from the then-recently demolished Three Rivers Stadium.
However, the Washington Wild Things will likely be replacing those relics of Pittsburgh sports history by the time it opens next year.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e started to break. We鈥檝e been nursing them along for a number of years,鈥� said Wild Things CEO Christine Blaine.
Construction on EQT Park, originally Falconi Field, in 2001, and it opened to the public in 2002. Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001 after serving as the home for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates sports teams for more than 50 years.
According to Blaine, 954 seats will be replaced. The stadium has a capacity of 3,200.
The seats targeted for replacement are all in the park鈥檚 lower level, and Blaine explained it may be difficult to preserve any of them. The seats are connected to one another and share an arm, and instead of having chair legs, they are bolted into the cement.
鈥淎s they remove them, if there are any that are salvageable we鈥檒l probably do something with them,鈥� Blaine said.
Blaine suggested they may auction off any seats that are in decent shape, but won鈥檛 know if that will be possible until the project gets underway.
鈥淚 want to have the experts actually tell us,鈥� Blaine said.
The Wild Things recently began soliciting bids for three projects, including the seat replacement. Other projects the organization plans to undertake in the off season will be painting and replacing the field lights with LED lights.
According to Blaine, the field lights are being replaced because they can be a hindrance to events at EQT Park.
鈥淥ur lights that we have now, it takes 10 minutes for them to come up to the full beam,鈥� Blaine said.
LED lights are expected to be more energy efficient, and provide better lighting on the field.
鈥淭hey will give us more opportunity for how we scheduled things at the park and that sort of thing,鈥� Blaine said.
The painting portion of the renovations will mostly involve the steel supports underneath the bleachers.
Since the park was built, Blaine says the 鈥渟tructural feel has taken a beating.鈥�
鈥淚t needs to be painted and taken care of,鈥� Blaine said. 鈥淵ou want to keep it so it can do another 25 or 30 years.鈥�
The Wild Things are accepting bids for the projects until Aug. 14. Blaine estimated that altogether, it will cost more than $1 million.
They are hoping to complete the renovations before the park opens next February.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big offseason for the organization,鈥� Blaine said.