Pitt prepares to announce plans for Victory Heights training facility
Pitt will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Petersen Events Center to reveal plans for Victory Heights, a training facility proposed by athletic director Heather Lyke in 2018 for the university’s upper campus.
Lyke will be joined by Chancellor Patrick Gallagher. Also expected to attend are coaches Dan Fisher (volleyball), Keith Gavin (wrestling), Samantha Snider (gymnastics) and Alonzo Webb (track and field/cross country).
When Lyke announced plans for the project 21 months ago, she labeled it “a comprehensive plan to put our student-athletes in the best place for success.” Also included in her plans was the recently completed renovation of the court at the Pete.
“Victory Heights is about rethinking the space where the (Fitzgerald) field house is, where Trees Hall is, where the OC Lot is and what can you actually put in that space,” she said at the time.
“We have 16 other teams (besides football and basketball) that work out and train up on the hill in Fitzgerald Field House. That’s 84% of our student-athletes who live and learn and train in that facility. It’s a 1951 facility that needs significant change.”
Among the proposed features of Victory Heights is a 3,000-seat arena for volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics.
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Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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