Fitzgerald Field House

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Fitzgerald Field House| nickname =


location = Allequippa St & Darragh St Pittsburgh, PA 15260
broke_ground =
opened = December 15, 1951
closed =
demolished =
owner = University of Pittsburgh
operator = University of Pittsburgh
surface =
construction_cost=
architect =
former_names =
tenants = Pittsburgh Panthers
(Volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling & indoor track)
seating_capacity = 6,798

Fitzgerald Field House is a 6,798-seat multi-purpose athletic venue on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Fitzgerald Field House is named for Rufus Fitzgerald, a past chancellor (1945-1955) of the university.

Usage

It is the current home for several Pitt sports: volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, and indoor track and field. Built in 1951, it was for five decades the home of the Pitt Panthers and Lady Panthers basketball programs. From the 1980s until 2002, however, the men's basketball team played selected Big East games at Mellon Arena.

The Pitt basketball teams moved to the Petersen Events Center in 2002.

The facility also has an indoor track and squash courts. In 1999, Fitzgerald Field House underwent a $3.8 million in renovations of existing facilities and a major addition to the west side of the building for locker rooms, team dressing rooms, and training and equipment rooms. In the summer of 2005, the wrestling training facility built in 1951 was reconstructed to be twice the size of the previous training facility and also received new floor and wall mats, a new ventilation system, new lighting, a video and recruitment room, and a balcony suspended above the mats featuring cardio equipment. [ [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/092105aab.html Pitt Wrestling Welcomes New Training Facility] ] In addition, an Olympic sports weight room was also added to serve as a primary training facility for over 300 Pitt student-athletes and includes Hammer Strength and Nautilus Next Generation machines, nearly 8,600 pounds of free weights, and a comprehensive cardiovascular unit, including treadmills, stationary bikes and the Stairmaster Gauntlet. [ [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities-fitzgerald.html#a1 Athletic facilities: Fitzgerald Field House] ]

Renovations of the facility in 2008 included $1.4 million in renovations including new volleyball courts and installation of seating and electronic equipment to meet NCAA requirements. [ [http://www.news.pitt.edu/m/FMPro?-db=ma&-lay=a&-format=d.html&id=3314&-Find Press release, University of Pittsburgh] ] [ [http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-lay=a&-format=d.html&storyid=8254&-Find Kimberly K. Barlow & Peter Hart, What's New? Places, University Times, Vol 41, No. 1, Aug 28, 2008; University of Pittsburgh, accessdate=2008-28-08] ]

Notable Events

* 1957 NCAA Wrestling Championship [ [http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/events.php?event=27 National Wrestling Hall of Fame 1957 NCAA Collegiate Championship] ]
* 1998 NCAA Gymnastics Northeast Regional Championship [ [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/spec-rel/040198aaa.html Pittsburgh to Host the NCAA Regional Competition, 4-1-98] ]
* 10 [Note: Fitzgerald Field House has hosted at least 10 Big East Tournament Championships. Records of host site prior to 1986 not found.] Big East Volleyball Championships (2004, 2002, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1992, 1991, 1988, 1986) [ [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nova/sports/w-volley/auto_pdf/04mg-content.pdf 2004 Villanova Volleyball Media Guide, pg 19] ]
* 1979 Eastern Wrestling League Championship
* 1992 Eastern Wrestling League Championship
* 2000 Eastern Wrestling League Championship
* 2000 East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship
* 2004 East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship
* 2005 Senior Olympics (basketball and shuffleboard) [ [http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory.fp5&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=issueid%3a%3aissuedate&-sortorder=descend&keywords=%22Cost%20center%22&-max=50&-recid=34436&-find= Pitt expected to be hub for National Senior Games] ]
* 2008 Eastern Wrestling League Championship [ [http://eaglgymnastics.net/history.aspx EAGL History] ] [ [http://ewlwrestling.com/Archives/index.htm EWL Archive] ]

Pitt is scheduled to host the 2008 Big East Volleyball Championship at Fitzgerald Field House on November 21-23, 2008. [ [http://www.bigeast.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19400&KEY=&ATCLID=1150062 2008-09 Big East Championship Schedule] ]

External links

* [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities-fitzgerald.html Fitzgerald Field House at PittsburghPanthers.com]

References

*cite book | author=Alberts, Robert C. | title=Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787-1987 | location=Pittsburgh | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press | year=1987 | id=ISBN 0-8229-1150-7

Gallery