Riverhounds announcement 1/10/12 - The Future Starts Here

Discussion in 'Pittsburgh Riverhounds' started by nandoal28, Jan 7, 2012.

  1. nandoal28

    nandoal28 Member

    Feb 22, 2004
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Anyone have an idea what the announcement is on 1/10/12. Both Facebook and Twitter have similar posts of "The Future Starts Here".

    Stadium news????
     
  2. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes, it is. And that's very cool.
     
  3. ButlerBob

    ButlerBob Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 13, 2001
    Evanston, IL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If they are able to move to that location near Station Square, I think that would be a great move for them. It's a much better location to draw from both the North and South hills. Heck, not even a bad trip in from out by Monroeville or out by the airport.
     
  4. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Burghers are going to have to hip me as to where on that property they're going to be able to put a stadium and have it done by this summer.

    Is it going to be a Washington Kastles temp stadium deal? I guess we'll find out tomorrow. Just curious.
     
  5. nandoal28

    nandoal28 Member

    Feb 22, 2004
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  6. Mikeyratt

    Mikeyratt Member

    Jan 9, 2002
    Richmond, Va
    I STILL think they should rename themselves the Labradoodles
     
  7. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay, this is fabulous:

    [​IMG]

    Details:
    • $7.5 million cost
    • Completion this summer
    • Soccer lines the only permanent lines (which must mean it's turf)
    • 3,500 seats
    • Open at one end to the skyline of Pittsburgh
    • 16 suites

    This is tremendous news. To be honest, I wouldn't have expected Pittsburgh to be the next team to get its own stadium, and I don't know quite how they're going to build it in five or six months, but rock on.
     
  8. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    USL press release here

    http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/589759.html

    Great location,

    Hopefully they don't try to cut too many corners like Atlanta did with their stadium. It doesn't need to be fancy but permanent bathrooms would be a good start!

    Also I can see quite a few sellouts in Pittsburgh's future with 3500 seats.

    congrats Riverhounds.
     
  9. Mikeyratt

    Mikeyratt Member

    Jan 9, 2002
    Richmond, Va
    for all my jokes, this really is a good thing. Congrats to the Hounds. I just wonder exactly where its going to be, the area looks pretty compact and built up already
     
  10. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Richmond, you're on the clock.
     
  11. Mikeyratt

    Mikeyratt Member

    Jan 9, 2002
    Richmond, Va
  12. ButlerBob

    ButlerBob Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 13, 2001
    Evanston, IL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is great news for not only the Riverhounds but also soccer in the area. I would imagine that it would be helpful to some of the city schools and some of the small colleges in the area.
     
  13. miked9

    miked9 Member+

    May 4, 2000
    Philadelphia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    With the trains right there, it might be like playing games at Quaker Valley, when the trains would rumble by and you couldn't hear anyone for a good 5-10 minutes.
     
  14. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd love to have a more accurate definition of "this summer". Having a stadium in downtown Pittsburgh can have...certain strategic advantages depending on schedule timing.
     
  15. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    "This summer" = June 20 - September 22. :D

    Schedule comes out tomorrow. I can't imagine, given the USL Pro schedule starts in April, that they'd realistically be able to backload Pittsburgh's home schedule as much as they would need to to get all of their home dates at the new yard. Maybe they'll open the season at their current field and hope to move halfway through, barring any construction delays.

    Last season went from April 2 - August 14. Pittsburgh's home opener was April 23.

    Haven't seen a report from the actual press conference yet, that may answer some questions.
     
  16. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's why I wish there were a more exact date. I don't see them backloading that much either. They'd have to wait over half the season to get there.

    So schedule is certainly tomorrow? Good news. I can make my summer plans. :p

    Further detail about the stadium is rather ambitious. They plan on having 16 suites with their own upscale concessions. Pittsburgh must want to remain D-3 in the long haul unless they try to build a larger venue elsewhere in the future, because I don't see anything much larger than the current plan going in that spot. There's already extremely sparce land at Station Square between river and rail.
     
  17. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    One of the Pittsburgh papers said "late summer," which would almost be at the season's end (as you might expect...even a 3,500-seat stadium is going to take time to construct). But the USL release didn't shed light, and none of the media reports so far out of Pittsburgh say anything other than "this summer."

    June 20 is 162 days away. Let's say late July and call it 200 days. That's still not a lot of days. I'm no construction expert, but I'd have to guess this thing might open as just a first phase in 2012.
     
  18. Vesty

    Vesty Member

    May 8, 2007
    Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Pittsburgh Riverhounds
    I was at the press conference today.

    They said if they stay on schedule they'll break ground in March and open by mid July (which would be crazy fast). They also said there is room for expansion if they want to though personally I don't think it would be a whole lot.
     
  19. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    WOW.

    I mean, Crew Stadium (admittedly much, much bigger) was built in 274 days. If they broke ground in early March, that'd be 120 days or so. It took more than two years to build what is now Sahlen's Stadium (they had a lot of delays, I think).

    That plot of land looks kinda small. You tell me, Vesty.
     
  20. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Unless they plan on pulling an Empire Field and building the main structure bare-bones. They managed to get seat backs and luxury boxes in there.

    As for size, I don't know exactly where in Station Square they're building it, but one thing's for sure: it's never gonna be much bigger than it's being planned for.
     
  21. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  22. Vesty

    Vesty Member

    May 8, 2007
    Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Pittsburgh Riverhounds
    [​IMG]
    http://kylemchenry.com/misc/rhstadium001.jpg

    That's where it'll be. I have no idea what the field size is so I took somewhere in the middle. Length looks about right based off the renderings but it's not going to be that wide. They're going to develop the stage to the left into parking. Not a lot of space to expand south unless they make tiers. That's extreme future talk though so not going to worry about it. Just extremely happy to be getting a SSS.

    -e- WakeMed is 68.5 meters wide and 109 long. I'd imagine it'll be about that wide.
     
  23. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It looks like they might be able to fudge it a little further southeast to give them some breathing room.
     
  24. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    60 meters is the minimum, so it is wide enough for soccer, but is not long enough 100 meters (no room for the goal nets).

    That is just the field, how about the stands?

    68.5 X 110 meters is optimum

    http://www.athleticfieldmarker.com/soccerfield
     
  25. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Gonna be scenic, though.

    Especially at this level, I'd rather have a bandbox that is theirs, that isn't a high school football stadium, that shows off the sport properly, and that you can do television out of, and worry about the future somewhere down the road. For now, you're talking about a franchise that's averaged 1,126 fans per game since coming back from hiatus in 2008, so filling the bandbox regularly would be the first order of business and all other future goals would be secondary.
     

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