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PNC Park

When you are running the most beautiful baseball park in the world, you not only have a responsibility to the teams and fans that frequent the park, but also to the city that plays host to that park and to baseball fans throughout the world. That’s the reason why the Chief Engineer traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to visit the folks who operate and maintain PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and America’s most beautiful baseball park.

Opened in the spring of 2001, PNC Park is a classic-style ballpark that grandly fits within the bustle and boom of a progressive and changing city. For fans that relish the character and charm of original style ballparks like Forbes Field, Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, PNC Park has the same charming character along with modern construction designs that eliminate obstructed views and provide maximum comfort for fans and visiting ball clubs alike.

Operated and maintained under contract by CB Richard Ellis Company, the first impression you have upon entering the ballpark is much the same as you may get upon entering a church. There is a reverence here; you feel it in the design of the park and in the numerous details that go into the interior decor and furnishings. You also sense this reverence in the character of the men and women who work here. PNC Park is more than just another ballpark, and it is far more than just another job to those who feel privileged to work there. PNC Park is a tribute to the players of bygone eras that helped to make baseball “America’s pastime”. It is also a tribute to the people of Pittsburgh who, in both good times and bad have never failed to support their hometown teams.

With seating for 38,365 fans, and not a single bad seat anywhere in the stadium, it is worth every cent to every American to travel to this city and experience what a great baseball park is supposed to be all about. From any seat, there is an intimacy with the field and with the game. If you never loved baseball, a visit to PNC Park will wrap you in the arms of the game. It will lure you in and romance you with the history of the sport and of the players. Like a fine museum, the history of Pittsburgh ball clubs adorns the walls in works of art and photography. Sculptures of baseball themes are found everywhere, both inside and outside the park. A detailed tribute to baseball’s Negro League is lovingly displayed within the park. A tribute not only to the great ballplayers of that league, but also to the citizens of Pittsburgh who, perhaps more than any other city in America, embraced and supported the Negro League and its players.

Upon our arrival at PNC Park, Tim Mahaney, the park’s facility manager, and James LaGuardia, the park’s Chief Engineer, met us. Tim and Jim were kind enough to act as tour guides for our visit and explain for our readers just how they operate and maintain the beautiful confines of the ballpark.

Hydronic heating and chilled water is provided through an agreement with the NRG Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Tim told us. NRG operates a district heating and cooling plant that delivers 300 million pounds of steam per year and 21 million ton hours of chilled water to Pittsburgh business customers. NRG delivers energy to PNC Park through two large plate heat exchangers; the park circulates high temperature hot water and chilled water to air-handlers and radiators throughout the facility to meet its heating and cooling demand. In addition to the central cooling, there is also 640 air-conditioning and refrigeration units servicing the ballpark and its tenants. Some supplemental heating is provided by small radiant electrical units.

“Our engineers take care of and service all the equipment we have inside the park,” Tim said. “We are very lucky to have a highly trained and dedicated staff”. Operating with a full-time staff of five operating engineers and one electrician, the staff is increased by three engineers during game days in order to accommodate the needs of ballpark visitors.

Tim told us that all the work done within the park, from carpentry to HVACR service and repair is all performed by the in-house staff. “IUOE Local 95 and IBEW Local 5 represents the engineers and electricians at the facility,” he said. “The work ethic of our engineers, I would put up against any group in the country. They not only work hard, but the work smart,” he concluded.

Tim went on to explain that each of the engineers has brought a special skill to the workplace. “One of our engineers is highly skilled in plumbing, another in air- behind home plate and between the dugouts and all have access to a private lounge, reserved just for them. Field level seating comprises the majority of seating with 26,000 seats and the upper deck with its 10,400 seats is divided into comfortable wide club seats and regular upper deck seats.

Leading the way, Jim gave us a tour of the lower level within the ballpark that houses the trade shops and engineering spaces. Everywhere we were taken we found neat, organized workspaces and friendly staff members who were eager to tell us about the beautiful facility they spent their days caring for.

“We track all the work we do,” Jim told us. “We use work orders to initiate jobs and track the time and supplies used for each job. We have been able to establish a very good baseline for tracking expenses,” he said.

Tim Mahaney credits a lot of the success he experiences to the training his engineers receive through IUOE Local 95. “There is a real cooperative spirit between the union and the park,” he said. “That also is displayed in the pride the engineers put in their work.”

As we left the lower level and emerged on the field level of the stands, we were again taken by the care and thought that went into the design of the field. The view from every seat we positioned ourselves in was nothing less than excellent. And nearby to every seat is a convenient snack bar, which allows one to continuously watch the game while standing in line, rather than taking you away from the action, like is done in so many other ballparks and stadiums.

Another unique aspect of PNC Park is provided by its location along the north shore of the Allegheny River. Fans have the ability to hop aboard one of the many riverboats that sail from various areas around the city and dock directly adjacent to the ballpark.

As we said goodbye to PNC Park, we left knowing that we would certainly return. We found in Pittsburgh something very special which has every potential of becoming known and embraced as America’s ballpark. We felt very privileged to have visited there and to have been able to meet the folks who make this park so special.

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