Pitt moves ahead with $240M plan for new arena, sports performance center

University of Pittsburgh officials Tuesday provided city planners with an overview of their plans for a $240 million arena and sports performance center on the Oakland campus.

The proposed Victory Heights facility would be located near Petersen Events Center on Terrace Street, on the site of the former Pitt Stadium, which was torn down in 1999, officials said.

The 3,000-seat arena would become home to the school’s volleyball, wrestling and women’s gymnastics teams. Those sports now play at the 70-year-old Fitzgerald Field House. The athletic performance center would serve 16 of the university’s 19 athletic programs and have space for wellness and sports medicine facilities, said Chuck Alcorn, a planner with the university.

The building also would feature an open community space on the roof. Plans call for large trees to provide shade, seating and an open lawn where people would have a view of the lower portion of Pitt’s campus and beyond.

The project “considers the outside spaces as much as it considers the inside spaces,” Pittsburgh Planning Commission Chair Christine Mondor said.

The facility earned approval from Pitt’s Property and Facilities Committee in November. At that time, university officials said the new facility would cost about $240 million.

The Planning Commission is expected to vote on the university’s proposal at its next meeting in two weeks.

This comes after the commission in November approved Pitt’s plans for a $255 million nine-story campus recreation center. It will house gymnasiums, squash courts, a swimming pool, spa, game room, locker rooms, racquetball courts and areas dedicated to fitness, food service and wellness.