Forty-five years ago this week, if you stood about where Heinz Field’s north endzone seats are and looked toward Downtown Pittsburgh, you would have had a striking view.
In the foreground, a crane operator placed the last of 65 “C” frames.
Behind it, you could see U.S. Steel’s headquarters, rising to dominate the city skyline like no building before or since.
A symbolic juxtaposition, and it was thoroughly Pittsburgh.
The parts for those steel frames were manufactured at the vaunted Homestead Works. They were shipped down the river to Neville Island, where the Pittsburgh Des-Moines Steel Company’s assembly shop put the frames together.
They were forty-seven feet high.
They were 43 tons each.
And they were sent on barges — 400 tons at a time — from Neville Island up the Ohio River to the North Side construction site.
(And they came down in a heap in 2001, along with the concrete that ended up in places like Leetsdale and the Braddock Dam.)
Construction often ran behind schedule, and there were few Pirates and Steeler fans who truly loved Three Rivers Stadium’s design during its 30-year existence.
But if you look back at the era and what went into its making, it’s difficult not to pause at the work that made Pittsburgh’s finest steel and concrete donut.
Ethan,
What is your basis for this statement: “there were few Pirates and Steeler fans who truly loved Three Rivers Stadium’s design during its 30-year existence”. I know many people who liked Three Rivers Stadium (myself included). Please don’t make stuff up that you don’t know anything about. Oops, that’s right, you’re a social media editor so you know everything. What kind of a job is “social media editor” anyway? how do you edit stuff that is just made up and has no basis in fact?
Hey Ray,
I enjoyed Three Rivers Stadium, too, and spent many of my childhood summer nights there. I look back on the experience fondly.
But I think you’d agree that the majority of Pittsburgh fans found its design bland and its character lacking. Not exactly a loving relationship. You just used the word “liked,” not “loved,” which proves my point.
Thanks for writing.
Hi Ethan,
I am looking for a photo to purchase and display in our office. The actual photo is of a complete Three Rivers Stadium with the city in the background. I found it on the site HMDB.org, but have not been able to get a hold of anyone there. The credit below it on the site is: Harry S. Coughanour, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, circa 1970. Do you have any idea of where I might be able to buy a copy of this? (I can email you a copy of this photo…)
The credit printed on the photo is the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Our Pittsburgh office is now located roughly on the old stadium site. We love this shot and it would be perfect for the office. Any help that you could provide me would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, marty
MARTIN P. DAVIS
DIRECTOR, VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
CONTINENTAL OFFICE ENVIRONMENTS
2601 Silver Drive | Columbus. Ohio 43211