Venue News: Steelers Add Capacity, Not Footprint, to Heinz Field

The Steelers may add more seats to Heinz Field, a move that would help address the seemingly insatiable demand for tickets, but could worsen the parking crunch in the steadily developing North Shore. In part because of the potential additions, the Stadium Authority last week voted to spend $20,000 to study the parking situation on the North Shore. Steelers co-owner and President Art Rooney II told authority officials that the team is studying whether Heinz Field’s 65,000-person capacity could be expanded by several thousand. “It’s probably somewhere between 2,500 and 4,000 [additional seats], and it would be in the south end zone,” he said. That is the open side of Heinz Field, where the scoreboard sits, and he said the seats could be added without changing the footprint of the stadium…

…On a chilly fall evening, a jogger runs laps on the track where Canadian speedskater Christine Nesbitt claimed Olympic gold a few months earlier. A short distance away, the arena where curler Kevin Martin was crowned Olympic champion is being converted into a skating rink and the walls are going up on a new curling club. At Rogers Arena, the Canucks are in the midst of their NHL season, playing on the same ice where Sidney Crosby sent a nation into delirium with his overtime goal to win Olympic hockey gold. In the 10 months since the flame was extinguished at the Vancouver Olympics, the venues are still being used. While a few will host elite competitions in the future, others have been turned into community facilities and might never see another international event…

…Race organizers of have announced that San Francisco will host the America’s Cup event next. “We sought a venue that fulfills our promise—to showcase the best sailors in the world competing on the fastest boats,” said Richard Worth, a race official. “And hosting the America’s Cup in San Francisco will realize that promise.” The San Francisco Chronicle reports that officials have decided that instead of holding the race miles offshore, like they did in Valencia and Newport, San Francisco Bay offers a natural amphitheater…

…University of Michigan officials say it’s too early to determine the extent of damage or a timetable for repairs following a burst water pipe at Michigan Stadium last week. The pipe leaked water onto the venue’s east concourse for 20 to 30 minutes before university officials arrived and turned the water off. An alarm alerted officials to the problem. They arrived to find a valve on the exterior pipe had frozen, and the water spilled onto the concourse and through a first-floor area that housed the stadium’s VIP lobby. Ceiling tiles and carpet on that level sustained water damage. Water also filled an elevator shaft, causing electrical damage, according to an initial report of the incident…

…The San Francisco 49ers have tentatively reached a compromise to extend their lease at Candlestick Park until at least 2014, a move that will bridge the gap until the team moves to a proposed stadium in Santa Clara, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week. Team president Jed York and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom reached the agreement last week week, according to the newspaper. The deal, which still required approval of San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Commission and the Board of Supervisors, also settles a $60 million maintenance claim the team had filed against the city.