Pittsburgh has plenty of places that have changed names

Nothing lasts forever. And that includes naming rights.

With the news that Heinz Field will become Acrisure Stadium, why not take a look at a few of the other spots in the area that have changed their names?

For purposes of this collection, we will be listing the places with their original — or first — name.

Civic Arena

First conceived in the late 1940s by department store owner Edgar Kaufmann and politicians, Uptown’s Civic Arena was an iconic image of Pittsburgh for over 40 years.

The space was originally built to be a home for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and the city’s minor league hockey team, the Hornets. First proposed for Schenley Park, the eventual site in the Hill District was a controversial one, because of the great number of homes that were seized and leveled by eminent domain.

It would be the world’s first retractable-roof sports venue. The roof sometimes came off for concerts as well.

During construction, the venue was officially called Civic Auditorium Amphitheater. However, that name proved too long for street signs and the name was shortened to Civic Arena.

It opened with the Ice Capades show on Sept. 17, 1961. Over the years, just about every top name music act has performed at the arena — including the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Led Zepplelin, The Who, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac and more. It also was home to circuses, political and religious rallies, basketball, boxing and soccer (Pittsburgh Spirit). It was used as the key piece in the 1995 thriller “Sudden Death.”

In 1991, naming rights transformed it into Mellon Arena.

In 2010, the rights expired and it reverted back to the Civic Arena until demolition began in the latter half of 2011.

Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater

Perhaps no place in Pittsburgh has gone through as many name changes as the concert venue in Burgettstown.

Most Pittsburghers forget that Coke’s name preceded the “Star Lake” part of the name when it made its debut on June 17, 1990, with a Billy Joel concert. Most just called it “Star Lake” among other things when they were stuck in long lines of traffic to enter and exit the venue.

Related:

• Heinz Field no more: Steelers, Acrisure finalize deal for stadium naming rights
• Mark Madden: From Evgeni Malkin to Heinz Field, fans' priorities are out of whack

The Burgettstown space was built to accommodate about 23,000 fans — a little less than a third of those under an open-air pavilion and the rest on a hilled lawn behind.

In 2000, the name changed to the Post-Gazette Pavilion. In 2010, it switched to First Niagara Pavilion. In 2016, it changed again to KeyBank Pavilion.

Then, in January 2020, it became S&T Bank Music Park. However, by December of that year, the venue’s Facebook page began using “The Pavilion at Star Lake” as the venue’s name.

Consol Energy Center

Built to replace the Civic Arena (see above) as the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and one of the city’s major concert venues, the Consol was ready for the 2010-11 NHL season.

As part of a broad corporate rebranding and marketing effort, PPG Industries launched an effort to make the public aware of its standing as the world’s largest paint company, the company bought the naming rights to the arena in 2016. The site was renamed PPG Paints Arena.

PPG has the rights until 2036.

U.S. Steel Tower

Likely the most iconic building in Downtown Pittsburgh — also its tallest at 840 feet — was opened in 1971 as the U.S. Steel Tower. The triangular-shaped, 64-story Grant Street building, which in Pittsburghese is pronounced “the stihl building,” was home to U.S. Steel. It also housed the beloved Top of the Triangle restaurant on the 62nd floor.

The name changed to USX Tower in 1988. But, lucky for Pittsburghers, the name changed back to the U.S. Steel Tower in 2002.

In 2008, UPMC added their logo and letters to the top of the building, but the name of the structure didn’t change.

Kennywood’s Old Mill

One of Kennywood’s longest-running rides first started winding riders calmly through its darkened paths in 1901 as the Old Mill.

According to Kennywood’s Facebook page, within its first 20 years the ride had various names — from Fairyland Floats to the Panama Canal to the Old Mill Rapids Gorge, then back to Fairyland Floats and finally the Old Mill again.

The ride burned completely to the ground in 1926, but was totally reconstructed.

In the 1970s, it became Hardheaded Harold’s Horrendously Humorous Haunted Hideway, only to turn back to the Old Mill in the early 1990s.

In 2004, the ride was modernized as Garfield’s Nightmare, using black lights and neon colors.

In 2020, the ride’s name revered back to the Old Mill once again.

Do you know of more places that have changed names? Let us know through social media: On Facebook or Twitter.