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Pitt Field renovations

SFspidur

SFspidur

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May 5, 2003
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Hardt's email today mentions some upgrades coming to Pitt Field for next year. I know fundraising for this has been going on for many years, so it's great to see it at least partly come to fruition.

I'm a little confused on how much is going to be added though...it mentions indoor batting cages, so is this the full stadium rebuild planned as part of the Elevate campaign, or only a portion of it? I thought it was supposed to be all one building with press box, concessions, restrooms, batting cages, grandstands, etc. But the only thing they specifically mention besides the separate outfield seating area is the batting cages.

"We can’t wait to unveil...enhancements to Pitt Field, including indoor batting cages and additional outfield seating."
 
If I had the money to donate, I'd love to finance a ground floor clubhouse/offices/locker room built on the back (lake) side of the stadium, hugging the hillside. Put batting cages on the second floor opening up into the third-base dugout. There's ample parking for coaches and players in the lakeside parking lot.

Any improvements will be better than none, however. I remain convinced UR has the right demographics which, combined with top-flight coaching and a full complement of scholarships, could make us a very good baseball school.
 
As a reminder, here's a low-res version of what the Elevate campaign envisions for the stadium rebuild.

Screen-Shot-2021-05-14-at-4-29-21-PM.jpg
 
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So we’re definitely continuing to piecemeal the upgrades. Indoor batting cages will be along left field line, and we’re doing seating, a berm, and an entryway out beyond right field. Planned to be finished by March 1.

No mention of the envisioned rebuild of the main stadium.

richmond.com

UR expected to upgrade Pitt Field, Spiders' baseball facility since 1975

Indoor batting cages down the left-field line and seating beyond the right-field fence are planned.
richmond.com richmond.com
 
2b dollar endowment and have a worse facility than the diamond which will soon be replaced and paid for by our rival and we can’t even figure out the funds to renovate an outdated stadium that doesn’t even have restrooms. What exactly are we paying these administrators for? Seen many D3 baseball programs with better facilities for baseball. I’m sure they’re all patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
 
Albeit they are finally doing something with the money they raised a few years ago, it is a highly disappointing result. As Ferrum said, we have the worst facilities of any D1 program in the state of Virginia.

However, I do think it would be easier to fundraise for the larger project if we had a coach that was halfway capable of speaking to donors and laid out a vision for the program. This is just his pit stop until his kid goes off to college -- never believed he was committed to the program. He's been great at scheduling good OOC games, but other than that, can't really point to any improvements in the program since he took over. It's time to rebuild and make the Spider baseball program what it used to be.
 
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I would think these projects need to get going since they're supposed to be complete before next year, no?
 
ur2K said:
Does it seems odd to have this sort of project being talked about publicly and not be accompanied by a set of renderings?
Click to expand...
I forgot what they named it but it was disclosed when they announced the improvements to the "athletic village" accompanied by a slick brochure. It was posted on this site somewhere in the past.
 
Got an email this week from Chris Schaefer of the development office regarding the upgrades. Since I am a financial contributor I was provided with an update, not only for the construction activity but also with respect to contributions. Seems quite a number of contributors made initial gifts but withheld the balance of their pledges since there was not a peep of communication from the Robins Center for several years on where we were with the baseball upgrades. Chris acknowledged their missteps in this regard and stated that they agreed with the justification for contributors to withhold their fulfillment of the pledges given the silence. He requests that with the commencement of construction on two of the projects that those who withheld their contributions will now fulfill them so we can move forward on the remainder of the upgrades. Left unstated in the email is the timeline for construction on the new grandstands and press box.
 
Nice. Saw a great regional final in Corvallis today. Bye bye Vanderbilt. College baseball is a super sport, wish we could become relevant again.
 
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Improvements are long overdue. Was by this week and looks great! Really great!!

Improved facilities are a start. Not the finish.

Let's get serious and fund all allowable scholarships. Facilities do not alone make a consistently successful program, but applaud what has been done.
 
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Not complaining, more like pointing out a small missed opportunity. But I walked by the outfield today and while I think it will be a hit, it's more of a double than a home run. As usual the quality is first class. The brickwork and future signage looks great. I just think they missed a couple of opportunities in the way it is laid out.

It could be a little bigger, especially on the ends and maybe brought closer to the outfield wall. It could have been 3 tiers instead of 2 as well. I would have even though about putting in some permanent seating in the front row (lowest tier). The bathroom should have been positioned so that the openings were facing the seating rather than the parking lot. The water fountain then moved to the middle of the bathrooms between the two entrances.

These small changes would have allowed them to fully enclose the entire outfield viewing area with fencing. Right now it doesn't look like they can enclose it with fencing/gates because 1) the water fountain is in the way and two it would require people to walk out of the fencing and around to get to the bathrooms. Which isn't that much of an issue with the exception that if it was fully enclosed they could host or co-host a preseason tournament or an A-10 tournament sometime down the line, as they would be able to charge admission for outfield seating.

Assuming they continue the renovation as originally planned and build a new press-box and grandstand (and hopefully add lights) it would allow them to host tournaments here. Even without lights they could co-host the A-10 tournament with VCU, assuming the new Flying Squirrels facility gets built.

Just a few little things in the design that could have made the facility that much better, IMO.
 
Nice to see that the Spider Alumni Weekend in May will honor my 1972 team; the first team to go to the NCAA Tournament as well as the 1995 team, the first to win an NCAA Tournament game.
 
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I am eager to see it on Homecoming weekend. I remember watching games from the concrete grandstand at old Pitt Field, and from the hill out by the back of the Refectory, in 1973, our final season there. I wish there was a way to add an attachment, I have a photo of the old field taken from my perch on Refectory Hill.

They can easily install temporary fencing to enclose the area if we ever host a regional or the A-10 tournament. I'd say the chances are remote either scenario will be necessary. NCAA regional hosting requirements almost certainly preclude a stadium as small as ours.
 
Unbelievable. I remember standing by the large tree, next to the old stands where Ribins Stadium sits,
and respectable teams played us, on what looked like an upscale sandlot baseball field.
 
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Pitt Field, spring of 1973, the last season it was used for baseball; the law dorm is in the background. We played out on River Road in 1974 and then moved to "new" Pitt Field in 1975. Bobby Mitchell, Kevin Harvey (IIRC) and Rennie Martin were our standouts in the 73-76 era; Bill Daly was also pretty good.
 
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Was it cinders or asphalt at that point? They upgraded from asphalt to rubber in 1991.
 
SFspidur said:
Was it cinders or asphalt at that point? They upgraded from asphalt to rubber in 1991.
Click to expand...
Still cinders. The other side of the track ran almost flush against the grandstand. The 1973 Southern Conference track meet was at Pitt Field, I think that was the last meet there before the first major upgrade in 1974.
 
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Wood, thanks for posting that pic ! Brings back a flood of memories. Almost expect to see Fred Hardy with whistle in mouth lurking out there behind the outfield.
 
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The infield of the track was still grass after the 1974 upgrade. Played the Pika pledge-active game there in fall of 1974 and some Hardyball there in the fall of 1975. Our men's soccer team played there when the varsity program started in 76 or 77.
 
AnnapSpider said:
Wood Hall, I don’t believe you have this picture. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Wow, I still can’t believe other teams would play us there. Of course, their fields may
have not been any better.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I've got a ton of photos of campus from the 1972-76 era. Here's one taken from almost the same angle, in Dec. 1973:

11252487_10205278836948589_353127747677598590_n.jpg
 
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