Sports

Pittsburgh's Professional Soccer League Unveils New Stadium

The professional soccer team will be leaving Chartiers Valley High School after playing there the past five years.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds are moving from the creek to the river.

The team announced Tuesday it will be moving its games from and plans to be build a 3,500-seat multi-sport stadium in Station Square next to the Monongahela River.

The Riverhounds, which play in the professional United Soccer League, spent the past five seasons at the high school. The school district made about $12,000 in rent and concessions each year during the annual contracts.

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Nicholas Morelli, , said the mid-summer completion date leaves the door open for the Riverhounds to play some games at the high school this year.

“They did indicate to us that they’d liked to talk to us about a 2012 lease agreement,” Morelli said.

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The $7 million stadium, which the Riverhounds said will be funded through local investors, will be located at the old amphitheater site. The Riverhounds announced in a press release that Highmark has purchased the naming rights to the stadium, and it will receive additional support from Trib Total Media and #1 Cochran dealerships.

“In an economy that is struggling, this stadium will have a tremendous impact on the community in more ways than just athletics,” said David Wilke, who is a consultant for the Riverhounds. “It will create jobs and employ the services of some local businesses, which ultimately will help stimulate our local economy.”

The Pittsburgh Passion professional women’s football team also plans to play at the stadium, and the developer hopes for other events at the facility.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds began playing in 1999, and have since held soccer games at CONSOL Energy Stadium in Washington County and several high schools around the area.


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