University of Pittsburgh Petersen Events Center

PJ Dick provided Construction Management services for the new 420,000 sf public assembly convocation and events center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is one of the finest college basketball arenas in the country, providing the very best for players and fans alike, while dramatically enhancing the quality of student life on campus, providing the University with a location for graduation ceremonies, modern recreation and fitness facilities, and student and public entertainment.

The project site, where Pitt Stadium once rested, is unique in that there is a 90- foot grade differential from one end of the property to the other. The Petersen Events Center occupies half of the total stadium footprint, giving the University a gain of five acres of green space. The interior design provides an innovative solution that bridges the 200-foot difference in elevation between the lower and upper campus areas. The building has a series of escalators that take students and pedestrians from the lower part of the campus to the upper campus, thus providing a circulation that was very much needed on campus.

The 12,500-seat arena houses all men’s and women’s basketball operations, a full practice gymnasium, a student recreation facility, food court, restaurant/retail areas, and luxury suites. Scope of work also included extension of the steam distribution system to the new building and construction of a new chilled water plant and distribution system to serve the center and all the University’s upper campus area.