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Home , Braves Field, Crosley Field, Forbes Field, Honus Wagner (Vittor), League Park, League Park (Akron)

Ball i es: THE STORY OF bv Daniel L.Bonk

Pirates fans, between the 1991 and 1992 seasons, were subjected to a tease. The administration of Mayor PITTSBURGHSophie Masloff proposed building a new publicly financed base- ball-only to be called Roberto Clcmente Field, inhonor of the late Pirates Hall of Fame . The proposal came as a shock to media and citizenry alike and was quickly embraced, surely, by every true baseball fan who ever bought a ticket at farther from the field than a box seat. Due to a variety of reasons, including a lukewarm reception from the general public asked to finance it,Masloff'quietly but quickly withdrew the proposal. Nevertheless, the city, 22 years after the opening ofThree Riv- ers, effectively admitted that itinadequately serves its most rou- tine function as the baseball home of the Pirates Clemente Field would have been both a step forward and back- ward — forward because itwas conceived along lines pioneered inBuffalo in 1988 with the opening ofPilot Field, home of the Pirates's minor league franchise, and backward because such neo- classic design tries to recreate the ambiance, intimacy, and reduced scale of baseball's classic old parks in , , and New York. Most ironic ofall,Clemente Field would invari- — ably have been compared to the Pirates's home for five decades Forbes Field, thought by many to have been the most classic of all. It was demolished in 1972 in the neighborhood, to bring

Dan Bonk is acivilengineer at the Michael Baker Corp. inCoraopolis, Pa. He grew up in the section of and graduated from the University ofPittsburgh in1978. Bonk serves on the Ballparks Committee of the Society ofAmerican Baseball Research. His interest inForbes Field's past grew out ofcasual research whichresulted inthe discover)' inCityofPittsburgh files ofthe only known set ofdesign blueprints ofForbes Field. The effort to restore the drawings, with the help of computers, required additional research and culminated in this article. Photos at left: Among the two most beloved Pirates to play at Forbes Field were KikiCuyler (top, 1921-27 as a Pirate) and (1910-1926)

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Pittsburgh History Summer 1993 — professional sports downtown a general national concrete, the stadium, like many of its era, has a con- trend which has contributed greatly to baseball's trived and sterile feel. Finally, many people have corn- modern condition as a corporate, upscale entertain- plained since shortly after its opening that Three Riv- ment of $40 million players and $100 family eve- ers is not easy to get to or away from, nings. Pittsburgh, in the future not too far away, may Many cities are like Pittsburgh, with 25-year-old reach a stadium crossroad. When approaching— any round, "multipurpose" . The new generation crossroad, it is appropriate tolook back in this case, of outdoor stadiums going up around the continent way back. Forbes Field was the second of the so-called now suggests that designers are heading away from "classic" ballparks. The first was in Phila- the massive concrete facilities of the late 1960s and delphia, which opened in April1909, three months early '70s. Realizing that attempts to build large ca ahead of Forbes Field. Others were pacify structures to accommodate many diverse activi (, 1910), (Chicago, 1910), ties resulted ingenerally mediocre accommodations GriffithStadium (Washington, D.C., 1911),the Polo for most everyone, the trend is toward smaller, sepa- Grounds (New York, 1911), (Cincin- rate parks for baseball and football. nati, 1912), (Boston, 1912), Tiger Sta- Three Rivers is widely criticized as "unfriendly," dium (Detroit, 1912), Ebbetts Field (Brooklyn, although stadium aesthetics is admittedly a highly 1913), (Chicago, 1914), subjective field. Three Rivers's circular design places (Boston, 1915) and (New York, the majority of ticket-holders, including those in 1923). Only Fenway, , Wrigley and popular but increasingly expensive field box seats Yankee Stadium remain. ($14 in 1993 for baseball), far from the field ofplay The short articles which appear here with this main and cut offfrom other sights and sounds of the city. story speak to Forbes Field's importance inOakland's Although occupying perhaps the most dramatic stadi- neighborhood life. This article, however, focuses on um site in America, a historian noted in Pittsburgh the engineering and architectural features which made History in 1992 (page 32), Three Risers "might as Forbes Field famous for its functional beautv. well be situated in the Mojave Desert" as in a city defined by historic rivers with a spectacular down- Organized baseball was played for roughly 25 years town skyline and picturesque bluffs. Due to the en- before the turn of the century, when a loyal following closed design but also because ofits Astro-turf and of fans developed. The game was troubled by cut- throat competition and a lack of trust between owners and players; cities where teams played,— — — played— on i who 1 . 1 j those teams, and what leagues they played in were constantly chang- ing. Some owners recog- nized that their survival depended on coopera- tion, which came in the spring of 1903 in the form of an agreement between the competing National and American leagues. The agreement provided for common playing rules for each circuit, harmonious schedules, player con- tracts which prevented them from moving as free agents between teams, and a minor league draft system. Forbes Field,c. 1924. This viewshows —the park's prime location,bordering anoldresidential area What followed was a near Oakland's educational complex also easily reached from growing Hast End suburbs. spectacular increase iin

54 Ballpark Figures interest inbaseball in the first quarter of the 20th Oakland. The area was dominated by an expansive century. estate owned by , heir to one of the One owner inthese formative years was Barney area's oldest family fortunes. As a young woman she Dreyfuss. A German immigrant who had settled in married an officer in the Britishmilitary and left Pitts- Kentucky at age 17, Dreyfuss first worked as a book- burgh permanently, but in 1889, she generously keeper and dabbled inthe stock market. He came to donated 300 acres ofSchenley Farms to the city as a Pittsburgh after his baseball franchise inLouisville, public park. Prompted by Schenley's gift,Pittsburgh Ky. folded when the league withdrew its support. The industrialist one year later funded 32-year-old Dreyfuss bought into Pittsburgh's base- the securing of land and the building and endowing ball franchise in 1900 on the promise that he could of his Carnegie Institute. Itultimately included a deliver his best players from Louisville. This roster library, museum, and concert hall. included the great and Carnegie, Pa. Upon Schenley 's death in 1903, Carnegie was native . named one of three executors ofher estate. Ashe had Dreyfuss's impact was immediate: Pittsburgh won with steel decades before, he now held a virtual mo- the league championship in1901 and 1902. He also nopoly on influence as tohow Oakland would devel- bought out his partners and became majority owner op. Carnegie continued toinvest heavily inOakland of the franchise. In1903, his team was onits way to a and his involvement spurred the philanthropy ofoth- third straight title when the owners negotiated their er Pittsburgh millionaires with names likeMellon, peace agreement; this made possible the first "World Frick, Phipps, and Heinz. In 1905, he began building Series," in which the champs, the Carnegie Technical Institute, which evolved into the Boston Pilgrims, defeated the Pirates. The large internationally known Carnegie Mellon University. crowds and media coverage of the first Fall classic Dreyfuss watched Oakland grow. One acquain- convinced a few owners, including Dreyfuss, that the tance was Franklin F. Nicola, who next to Carnegie time was right to invest heavily in the game's future. and Schenley was arguably the person most influential High onhis listof priorities was better accommo- inOakland's changing face. His development firm dations for fans, a step which would also project a was called the Schenley Farms Co. In 1907 % Nicola professional image. This meant getting his club out of lured the Western University ofPennsylvania to move Exposition Park, the Pirates's home since 1891. Ex- three miles from to a 48 -acre position Park, so-named because circuses and other tract in the heart of Oakland. (The school was also big tent shows camped there when in town, occupied renamed the University ofPittsburgh.) Nicola also ground less than 50 yards from the , was responsible for a variety ofOakland residential near present-day Three Rivers Stadium. Dreyfuss tracts and buildings: the Schenley Hotel (1898), remarked, "The game was growing up, and patrons Pittsburgh Athletic Association (1909), Masonic no longer were willingto put up with nineteenth Temple (1914), (1915), and Schenley century conditions." Symbolizing baseball's instability Apartments (1922). His offices were in the Farmers before 1903, stadiums like Exposition Park were also Bank Building (still at 301 Fifth Ave.), from which typical homes for franchises inother cities. Such Dreyfuss ran the Pirates. parks' wooden grandstands were susceptible to fire, Dreyfuss reasoned that Oakland would be ideal for collapse, and rot. AtExposition Park, frequent floods baseball. Although a large, ethnically diverse working hurt attendance and disrupted schedules. class residential district developed there in the twenti- Perhaps as important as floods and rotting bleach- eth century, by 1908 the community also was estab- ers, however, was Exposition Park's location in what lished as both the cultural and entertainment center Dreyfuss considered the wrong neighborhood. He ofPittsburgh. Itfeatured two colleges (Pitt and Carn- was quoted as saying that the "better class ofcitizens, egie Tech), the area's largest library and museum, the especially when accompanied by their womenfolk, concert hallhome of the Pittsburgh Symphony, were loathe to go there." Phipps Conservatory, and , the largest Dreyfuss saw the game as an entertainment vehicle public park in Allegheny County. Luna Park, an that would need to attract citizens more affluent than amusement park along North Craig Street, claimed to the working class. He reasoned that the key to success attract 25,000 customers a day during the summer was not only to increase attendance, but to increase from 1905 to 1909. Regular trolley service from the profit per ticket. The same rationale to increase downtown Pittsburgh had been established since revenues is used today by every major sports entity in 1888, and a premier hotel, the Schenley Hotel, had the nation (college or pro) and is the driving force opened in 1898. Allconsidered, Oakland had every that brought loge boxes and sky boxes to modern feature that Dreyfuss thought necessary for success. stadiums. In1908, Carnegie told Dreyfuss about an Oak- land property that might be right for his new ball- SEARCHING FOR ASITE (1903-1908) park: a seven-acre parcel along Bouquet Street one The search coincided with the development of block south of . Although the parcel

55 Pittsburgh History Summer 1993 also bordered the oldest part ofOakland, the working Exposed bleachers were attached to the grand- class residences west ofBouquet Street, its clear ad- stand on the third base side. The original outfield vantage was that directly to the east, many ofPitts- wall was masonry block and red brick that extended burgh's wealthy industrialists and financiers were from the left field foulline to right-center. A tempo- building mansions in the adjoining residential areas of rary wooden fence completed the enclosure from , Squirrel Hill,East Liberty, and Home- right-center to the right field foul line. Dreyfuss was wood. The property was largely a deep gully (Pierre advised by Leavitt to wait several years tobuild the Ravine) that would require a lotof backfill. Although right field bleachers, to assure complete settlement of not suitable for buildings except along its northern the fillinPierre Ravine. They were added in1925, edge, that was fine for Dreyfuss, since the greatest bringing the field's capacity to 33,500. part of a is open field. (Before Dreyfuss Dreyfuss tapped Franklin Nicola to build the park. came along, a portion of the lothad been graded for Nicola's younger brother, Oliver P. Nicola, served as use by Pitt and Carnegie Tech as a football field, president of a general contracting firmthat was a complete with wooden grandstands.) sister company to the developer's. Structurally simple Dreyfuss bought the property on Oct. 18, 1908 and easy to build,Leavitt's design emphasized the from the Commonwealth Real Estate Co. He later setting more than the structure on it.The park's only said people laughed at his decision. "There was noth- exterior extravagances were the arched windows ing there but a livery stable and a hot house, while a which lined up in series at street level along the exte- few cows roamed the countryside. The more Ilooked riorfacade. over the property, the better Iliked it.Ihad a strong Ground-breaking was Jan. 1,1909. Clearing, hunch, which amounted to a conviction, that Pitts- grading, and the placement ofover 60,000 cubic burgh would grow eastward." yards ofearthen fillwere completed in two months. OnMarch 1, grandstand construction began. The DESIGN ANDCONSTRUCTION (1908-1909) Raymond Concrete Piling Co., the only subcontrac- Since no architect in the nation had any baseball tor stilloperating today, completed the foundation park design experience, finding one for Forbes Field piles March 21. The left field bleachers were complet- was not easy. Dreyfuss, instead, looked for expertise ed byMarch 28. work shifts and favorable in the building of thoroughbred racetracks, which he weather allowed work to progress ahead ofschedule. frequented on East Coast business trips. This led him On May 9, the Pirates announced that the first game to a 38 -year-old New York City engineer named at the new park would be played June 30. ByMay 12, Charles Wellford Leavitt, Jr., whose designs included all of the steel girders were inplace and even the several concrete and steel grandstands for tracks in park's seats were on site. Nicola hustled to complete New York. the structural details over the next six weeks. Seven Steel and concrete were the rave because they acres of green sod trucked infrom Crestline, allowed for larger crowds and, more importantly, was the finishing touch. The price tag for the project, were virtually fireproof. Inaddition to Leavitt's tech- finished inunder six months, was about $2 million. nical abilities, Dreyfuss may have liked him because he believed Carnegie would approve. Leavitt's princi- GRAND OPENING pal clients where wealthy New England estate owners. Forbes Field was a resounding business success He was a methodical and mannered individual whose thanks, in part, to the world championship caliber references Carnegie most likelyknew. However, team Dreyfuss fielded in 1909. The Pirates sold all Leavitt was not an architect; he called himself a land- 300 boxes (8 seats per box, at $10 per box) for the scape design specialist. season two weeks before the first game. Box seat Littleinformation is available regarding Dreyfuss 's season ticket-holders (at $100 a seat) had their names design requirements. He seems tohave insisted only engraved on a removable brass plate on the rail of that Leavitt carry out the then radical idea that the their box. Roof boxes (7 seats per box) went for majority of seats inthe park be suitable for premium $8.75; reserve seats $1; general admission $.75; left pricing. The location ofPierre Ravine and the path of field bleachers $.50; and temporary outfield bleachers the sun dictated the orientation of home plate and went for $.25. The best seats may have— been those in the park's main entrance to the north, at the corner the first few rows of the second tier Dreyfuss re- of Bouquet and Louisa streets. (This portion of Loui- served several for his exclusive use. sa Street was later renamed Sennott Street.) Leavitt The owner proclaimed June 30 to July 7 as Dedi- conceived a three-tier grandstand 889 feet long and cation Week. Railroads offered special rates toPitts- 74 feet high from fieldlevel to rooftop. (To com- burgh, and various parades and rallies marked the pare, the first row of seats in the upper deck at Three calendar. On , the crowd began arriving Rivers is about as high as the roof ofForbes Field, an hour before ticket windows opened at 10 a.m. meaning that nearly every seat in the upper deck is far- Gates opened at noon, and eventually 30,388 fans ther from the field than the worst seat at Forbes Field.) bought tickets, some 5,000 more than capacity. (The

56 Ballpark Figures

over-flow stood behind ropes in the outfield.) At- of the roof. Allstructural steel was painted green, tending were many franchise owners, National which contrasted against a buff-white terracotta exte- League President Ham' Pulliam, American League rior facade. Andall was topped with the orange glow President , Pittsburgh Mayor William A. ofa copper sheathed roof. Magee, and a man referred to affectionately as Uncle Numerous twentieth century features provided AlPratt, who managed the first major league Pitts- (continued on pajje 64) burgh team in 1882. The park was awash in color. The lush green of the playing field corresponded with Photos on next sixpager. A caption is required for only two of the distant green backdrop of Flagstaff Hillin Schen- the photographs on the followingpages. The first image, a ley sky against time delay shot, shows the nightly community gathering Park. A sunny blue formed a solid mat beyond wall, picture cheering flags poles roughly the outfield c. 1950. The of fens which American waved from at along the left field foul lineis from April22, 1949. 50-foot intervals along the inside and outside edges

57 ,1 5.

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Forbes Field a "state-of-the-art" feel for many years. promenade beneath the grandstands at street level. Leavitt revolutionized fan movement withinclined This feature made Forbes Field the only ballpark in ramps between decks, instead of steps. Elevators went the league where everyone in the main grandstand from the main entrance to third tier roofboxes. The could find cover to wait out rain showers. design included electric lights, public telephones, and The Pirates lost the inaugural game to the Chicago roomy clubhouses equipped withlaundries. Leavitt's Cubs, 3-2. The media, however, saw nothing but victo- most innovative feature, however, was the spacious ry. One national baseball publication wrote glowingly:

64 Ballpark Figures

The formal opening ofForbes Field was an historic third tier roofboxes were expanded. People in the event; the full significance could be better felt than back rows of the third tier then sat so high that these expressed. Words must also failtopicture to the mind's seats would forever be popularly referred to as the eye adequately the splendor of the magnificent pile "Crow's Nest." Itwould take as long to install flood (Pirates) President Dreyfuss erected as a tribute to the lights in 1940 as ittook to build the grandstands in National game, a beneficence to Pittsburgh and an 1909. But when the wiring was complete, the era of enduring monument tohimself. For architectural beau- megaphones ended and the electric public address ty, imposing size, solid construction, public comfort system began. Seats called "Greenberg Gardens" and convenience, it has not its superior in the world. along the left field fence were another modification, from 1947 through 1953. The last permanent modi- Baseball Magazine intoned: "The new park is the fication came in 1959, when three rows of box seats greatest achievement inCivilEngineering and as were added infront ofexisting boxes toprovide VIP beautiful as well as secure a construction as has been seating for the 1959 All-Star Game. The Pirates invit- undertaken in this country since baseball first began ed President Dwight Eisenhower, who instead sent to be the national pastime." his vice-president, an aspiring presidential candidate The opening day crowd was the the largest ever to named . attend a baseball game anywhere and more than three Franklin Nicola remained a friend of Barney Drey- times Exposition Park's largest crowd. Fans thronged fuss's all ofhis life. His last speculation, the Schenley to Forbes Field throughout the summer of1909. The Apartments, along Forbes Avenue a block from the three games played there that fall against ballpark, served as his last address as well as Dreyfuss's the and attracted 82,885 last residence. They are now Pitt dormitories. Both fans, more than the entire World Series gate of the Nicola and his brother Oliver, the builder ofForbes two previous years. Dreyfuss's gamble was destined to Field,died in the 1930s. be a complete success. Dreyfuss died Feb. 2, 1932 ofpneumonia follow- ing an operation. He was 65. Dreyfuss had been EVOLUTION greatly saddened by the death less than a year before Like all parks of the classic era, Forbes Field was of his son Sammy, part of the Pirates's management. designed to allow for changes and modifications. It Control of the business fell to Dreyfuss's widow, was intended to evolve as baseball, technology, and Florence. She convinced her son-in-law, William E. the park's neighborhood changed. Benswanger, to leave his successful insurance business tore down the original left field wall in 1918 because to assume the position of team president. he felt it yielded too many cheap home runs. Adver- On Aug. 8, 1946 Florence Dreyfuss sold the Pi- tising was never allowed on the outfield walls, so as rates and Forbes Field for $2.5 million to four inves- not to mar the natural setting. The only exception tors headed byIndianapolis banker Frank McKinney. was during World War II,when a large soldier was The other partners were renowned entertainer Bing built inleft center to promote war bonds. Permanent Crosby, Columbus real estate developer John W. right field stands in 1925 added capacity for the first Galbreath and Pittsburgh attorney Thomas P. John- World Series there since 1909. In1938, in anticipa- son, who is stillactive in the Pittsburgh law firm of tion ofa World Series that did not materialize, the Kirkpatrick and Lockhart.

TWILIGHT YEARS (1945-1970) The era of new own- ership inPittsburgh coincided with the end of World War II,the start of Pittsburgh's urban renewal called the "Renaissance," the west- ward expansion of base- ball, and new develop- ments inOakland. Each played a role in the de- mise of Forbes Field. In 1945, Pittsburgh Mayor David L.Law- rence joined with Pitts- Pirate ballplayers leaving the Forbes Field area, c. 1948. burgh's wealthiest and

65 Pittsburgh History Summer 1993

Louis Browns, Athletics, Brooklyn 1 Dodgers, and New YorkGiants would follow the lure ofpublic assistance, perks, and financing to Baltimore, The followinginterview excerpts appear courtesy of City, and . The WQED-TV,Pittsburgh. Producer Rick Sebak inter- franchises thai stayed put, like the Pirates, found viewedLaVallee in1990 forhis "Things That Aren't themselves increasingly viewed by the community as a There Anymore" series. LaVallee and her brother public institution rather than a private enterprise. still own Kunst Bakery on Forbes Avenue inOak- The Pirates, in contrast to franchises like cross- land, the business started bytheir father, Peter Kunst, state rivals, the , never publicly in 1945. solicited for a new stadium. Instead, the combined " needs of Pittsburgh's urban renewal and the ever- F> EALLY,Ican hardly find the words to increasing appetite of the University ofPittsburgh for IVexplain the ball park. Ican't tellyou Oakland real estate made it easy for the Pirates torid how thrillingitwas, and people, well they'd themselves ofa costly maintenance liability.Avocal stop in say, 'I'mgoing to the ball game,' and proponent ofa new stadium was ex-Pirates's Presi- it was just, just great. My father loved it.He dent BillBenswanger, who argued the futilityof would go almost every day, even for a couple maintaining the oldpark: "It's an exposed building ofinnings. You justknew everyone: 'Hello, and winter and weather take their toll." In1958, hello, where you going?' Everybody was go-— Pitt's chancellor proposed the purchase of Forbes ing to the game.— Allof Oakland was happy Field for $3 million with an agreement to lease itback on the streets and itwas just nice. to the Pirates for 10 months to four years. Pitt ulti- mately bought the field and leased it to the Pirates for "Idon't think it'sbetter on the . 12 years. The North Side doesn't have the atmosphere. On June 28, 1970 the Pirates played the last game People loved to come to Oakland to go to at Forbes Field against the same team they faced in the ball game. There were things to do here the first game, the . The second largest and ifyou wanted to go up to—the museum or crowd (40,918) inForbes Field history attended. you wanted to go toPhipps you could do They watched BillMazeroski record the last out by so many more things. fielding a ground ball from Don Kessinger and step- ping on second base to force out WillieSmith. UIlive in Oakland and I'llalways live here. Everybody in the ballpark knew— one another. EPILOGUE The ushers would seat you they knew you, Forbes Field survives today inbits and pieces. A and they would be in your store or they lived section of the ivy-covered outfield wall stands beside around the corner. Pitt's Katz Business School. The 457-foot mark re- mains a memorial to Dreyfuss's conviction that his "Ithink everybody loved Forbes Field. You ballpark not be known as a place where a man could sat right on the field. You felt like you could a cheap home . (Dead center at Three Rivers is go out and play the game. You could stand 400 feet.) Across the street from that section of wall is up and almost feel them when they hit the Pitt's Forbes Quadrangle building. Inside the main ball. When they said they were tearing it lobby, the home plate from Forbes Field is encased in down, Ithink I'mnot the only one who plexiglass and set in the floor. Other parts ofthe park cried, Ithink everybody cried." A can be found at the Allegheny Club at Three Rivers Stadium, including several of the original arched win- dows and wooden seats. Twobronze plaques are also most Republican native, Richard K.Mellon,in a ma- there, including the memorial to Barney and Sammy joreffort to revitalize the region. Their efforts result- Dreyfuss that stood for many years indeep center ed in the redevelopment of the Golden Triangle, the field at Forbes Field and the memorial to 's lower HillDistrict, and the near North Side. The final three home runs that used to be attached to the latter included construction ofThree Rivers Stadium, green wall inright field. Finally, the Honus Wagner an idea first proposed by the statue that stood in the plaza beyond Forbes Field's for Community Development in 1955. left field wall now stands at the Gate C entrance to Baseball franchises were the envy ofmany growing Three Rivers. western cities in the early 1950s. Beginning in 1953 Most Pittsburgh fans didn't realize fully what was with the Boston Braves's move to , base- being lost, caught up as they were in another pennant ball entered an era when cities openly wooed franchis- race and the media-whipped euphoria that accompa- es by offering special incentives including municipally nied the opening of Three Rivers. As the years passed, financed stadiums. Before the decade was out, the St. its inadequacies, coupled withthe almost idolic rever-

66 Ballpark Figures ence baseball fans have for the surviving classic ball- departing GIs, and even the circus which used to play parks, have combined to magnify the loss. What's at Exposition Park. This broad scope of events meant more, Three Rivers was hailed for its versatility, but that just about even' Pittsburgher experienced its Forbes Field must certainly be considered to have special feel. been its equal. Besides hosting , Yet its reputation survives primarily for one sport. Pitt, Carnegie Tech, Duquesne University, and the In1969, Benswanger lamented that Forbes Field was Steelers played football at Forbes Field. Itwas the "alittlebit different from any other ballpark. The tan place where one went to watch a wrestling show or a sits back and looks out on a green terrain that doesn't boxing match. The Pittsburgh Symphony, Civic include factories. There are thousands ofpeople who Light Opera, and various popular music entertain- willregret its passing; that's human nature. Idon't played park polit- — playing— ment acts there. The saw numerous know ofa better i j o field. But itcan't last forever." ical rallies, religious congregations, prayer services for BillJames, a noted baseball historian, summed up

Unlike modern stadiums, Forbes Field was an important Athletic Association, aprivate club two blocks from where the rallying point for community groups, especially those in park stood, hosted Pirate social functions inOakland forhalf Oakland. The relationship was often reciprocal: the Pittsburgh a century.

67 Pittsburgh History Summer 1993

spot was along the of design team visited many of the the Allegheny River between the completed stadiums, but only Sixth and Seventh Street bridges. Houston's had a pro- stadium built downtown The Seventh Street Bridge would found impact. Its , THEon the north shore of the Al- have been converted into a pedes- Scoreboard electronics, and overall legheny River was the last of three trian walkway, to firmly the design made it the epitome of the designs formally considered. The stadium to downtown life just modern stadium. Pittsburgh architectural firmof across the river. The long hike The two earlier design concepts Deeter and Ritchey led a design from downtown is one of the most for Three Rivers envisioned semi- team that included as engineers the obvious problems at Three Rivers, circular structures with an open Michael Baker Corp. ofPittsburgh and proposed remedies have in- end facing the Golden Triangle. and Cleveland's Osborne Engineer- cluded subway links and elevated The first used a complex "space ingCo. people-movers; last year a foot- frame" to transfer structural loads WilliamSippel, D&R's lead bridge linked the walkway on the to the foundation, instead of rely- architect for the project, said that Fort Duquesne Bridge with Gate ing on the traditional series of before the final spot was picked in C. Plans to widen the bridge walk- beams and trusses. The design 1964 numerous sites were studied, way are pending. proved to be unpopular because its including an airport- area location Design work on Three Rivers construction would have required and one atop Monument Hillon began in1958, Sippel said, before thousands ofengineering calcula- the North Side where the Commu- new stadium projects of the era in tions uncommon for the day — nity College of Allegheny County other cities, although parks inSt. before high capacity microcom- stands today. Louis,Los Angeles, and New York puters. Perhaps the most intriguing ended up being finished first. The In1966, the low bid for build- ingD&R's design #2 (see photo page 69) was 38 percent over budget. Each steel and concrete support section would have re-— !Ssff~ quired custom construction far more costly than the nearly identi- cal sections— that prevailed in the end to allow the structure's D / sloping profile. Such a profile pro- lc —.if vided maximum seating behind ,&**yrisrzxrA-vnarsar-m \0'D- the area and yet kept out- reasonably near tl \u25a03^. field seats the field as the stadium wrapped around the V-shaped playing surface. Un- willingto increase financing costs, ...... A_— the city's Stadium Authority asked k_^ ir^i (M M^., — for a third design, a process which C3 l if ,!„„.•o«=*=r«-,,.....,^ ended with what we have today, at roughly the previously budgeted I I jffllllllilHIHIUIII fel price. =Jte?^rM-^^_^ i One result was that fans have not come inthe predicted num- T. l^^ ...... , \MTm-,ii •! -1 bers. Indeed, not until 1988 at wiia-wriiE5 Three Rivers did the Pirates match MU^IR-^« their season attendance 1 II1+W4-H™i M ij-= record set in 1960 at Forbes Field. The problems with downtown | | multipurpose stadiums, so appar- ! ! ! ! ! ent today, are not unique to Pitts- i4 i © <§> © burgh and consequently have been discussed in various professional RADIAL*> a uI p. l SECT9 1.L I IONIUPI 3D TOWARD BCBCNTNT LIKE 5 publications and at confer- ences.

68 Ballpark Figures

69 Pittsburgh History Summer 1993 precisely what no longer exists: "Forbes was regarded Landscape Architecture XIX(Oct. 1928), obituary of for many years somewhat the way Charles W. Leavitt, Jr. [inLos Angeles] is regarded today, as the crown jewel National Museum ofRacing Hall ofFame, author's in the diamond tiara. It was never the biggest, but it correspondence with Catherine A.Magure, operations — CT 3'1992 seemed, somehow, sight were li : ., ._,„ ,._. „. . the, best, the ,°. lines . man^New York'""I?Times, April. l23, 1928, obituary.. ot Charles. VV. the...best, it contained and expressed the enthusiasm. orc jeav jtt jr the crowd the best; itwas just the best place to watch Pittsburgh Blue Book 1908 (Elite Pub. Co., 1908). a baseball game."« Pittsburgh Blue Rook 1938 (R.L. Polk, 1938). Pittsburgh History72 (Fall 1989), "The Changing Face SOURCES of Schenley Park," Kenneth Heineman. Ballparks ofNorth America, Michael Benson (McFarland The , Frederick G. Leib (G.P. Putnam's & Co., 1990). Sons,Sons. 1948). Baseball Research Journal 15 ( 1986), "Forbes Field The Pittsburgh Pirates, An Illustrated History,Bob Smiz- Praised as a Gem When ItOpened," Donald G. Lancaster. jk (Walker &Co 1990) Cemetery of the Gate ofthe Heaven, Hawthorne, N.Y., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Forbes Field WillRest inPieces brochure ( 1992). at tne Stadium Club," June 29, 1970. CityBaseball Magic, Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "As Stadium Turns 20, No About Cities and Baseball Parks, Philip Bess (Minneapolis p[ans for Replacement are Projected," July 12, 1990. Review ofBaseball, 1989 ). Pittsburgh Press Sunday Magazine, "Polishing Up the Elysian Field Quarterly 1 1 (No. 2, 1992), "Theory and qijDiamond," July 7, 1969. Ballpark Design inBaseball's Gilded Age," Philip Bess. Pittsburgh" Press Sunday Magazine, "The Allegheny Forbes Field 60th Birthday Picture Album,in foreward by Club March 15, 1970 WilliamE. Benswanger ( Pittsburgh, 1969). Pittsburgh ofToday, Its Resources and People, v. Ill, Frances Loeb Library,Harvard Univ. Graduate School prank C. Harper (American Historical Society, 1931 ). ofDesign, brochure II,Charles W. Leavitt &Son, 1927. Pittsburgh, An Urban Portrait, Franklin foker (Pennsyl- Grcen Cathedrals, Philip J. Lowry (Addison -Wesley, vania State Univ Press 1986) 1^92 ). Pittsburgh, The Story ofan American City, Stefan Lorant ,University ofPittsburgh Special Col- (Kingsport Press, 1980 [rep.]). lections, minutes of Board of Trustees winter meeting, Dec. Prominent Men ofPittsburgh and Vicinity,Members of 9, 1958 (p. 109). Pittsburgh Press Club, 1912-1913 (Pittsburgh Press Club, The HistoricalBaseball Abstract, BillJames (Villard 1913). Books, 1988). Renaissance ( 1970), "Goodbye Forbes Field," TIjc June Know Pittsburgh: Steel and Electric City and the Chetet Smith. Greater Pittsburgh District, Commercial Development Saratoga Springs, An Architectural History, 1790-1990, Dept., Philadelphia Co. and—AffiliatedCorp. (1926). James K.Kettlewell (LyricalBallad Book Store, Saratoga Landmark Architecture Pittsburgh and Allegheny Springs, N.Y., 1991). County, Walter C. Kidney (Pittsburgh History &Land- Society ofAmerican Baseball Research, 1992 Annual marks Foundation, 1985). Meeting (St. Louis),Louis). "The Institutionalization of the ModM< ern World Series, 1903- 1905," presentation by William Ferraro.— Steel Titan TlieLife ofCharles M. Schwab, Robert Hessen (Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1975). 20th Century Baseball Chronicle, DavidNemeli- etal (Publications Inter- national, 1992). To Every Thing a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia, Bruck Kucklick (Prince- ton Univ. Press, 1991). Western Historical Magazine 30 (March-June, 1947), "Professional Baseball in Pittsburgh," WilliamE. Benswanger.

Demolition after the University ofPittsburgh's acquisition. A classroom -office complex now occupies the site.

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