Oakland to get new sports fields

A group of Pitt administrators reached an agreement with Oak Hill and city officials last… A group of Pitt administrators reached an agreement with Oak Hill and city officials last week to build baseball and soccer fields behind Trees Hall.

The negotiations between Pitt, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, the Oak Hill Resident Council and Beacon/Corcoran Jennison – the owner and managers of the Oak Hill apartments – allowed Pitt to buy the land on Robinson Court for $4 million, according to Paul Supowitz, Pitt’s vice chancellor for governmental relations.

Construction beginning and ending dates are unknown at this time.

Supowitz also said that the $4 million will go towards the next phase of construction of Oak Hill apartments, and will provide money for BCJ to build a town center in the development’s community.

In addition, Pitt will commit 20,000 square feet of the land for the development, of which 3,000 square feet will be used for a building for the community, such as a convenience store, said Supowitz.

Pitt will also pay $100,000 a year for the next ten years for resident services, which will fund programs for the Oak Hill residents.

“We always believed that this was a situation from which everyone could benefit,” Supowitz said.

He said the negotiation gave Pitt the land it needed for the fields, but also left a lot of empty land to be developed for Oak Hill housing.

Unofficial planning for the two fields had occurred for at least the past three years, but Supowitz said that the talks started to become serious in the past few months.

In the past, the soccer team has practiced in Indiana Township and the baseball team has practiced on a non-regulated field, also located near Trees Hall.

“It’s a really kind of cobbled together field that doesn’t meet the requirements of the NCAA,” Supowitz said.

The location is a great spot for the fields because it is “at the back door of Trees Hall” and close to other athletic facilities, Supowitz said.

Upon completion of the soccer and baseball fields, students will be able to watch the Pitt teams play, but Supowitz said that the games will not bring any additional revenue to the University.

While he said that football and basketball are the only sports that are profitable, he also said that Pitt is committed to developing a well-rounded athletic department, which would benefit from the additional fields.

He said that the new fields will lessen the pressure put on other athletic facilities and also benefit intramural sports teams.

Much of the success of the negotiation, Supowitz said, was owed to the mayor, who “narrowed the gap” between the compromises of Pitt and BJC.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said that Chancellor Nordenberg issued this statement after negotiations were reached:

“At Pitt, we always believed that there were ways to accommodate everyone’s interests, and felt even more strongly that it was in no one’s interest to approach this as a battle. Fortunately for everyone involved, Mayor Ravenstahl felt the same way. We are grateful to the Mayor for the key role he played in bringing the parties together and encouraging the serious and respectful discussion that produced this agreement.”