The University of Pittsburgh has been given the green light to begin work on a $240m (£203m/€230m) masterplan that will include a new 3,000-seat arena.
The university first unveiled the Victory Heights project in January 2020 as part of plans to provide student-athletes with national-level facilities. The plans have now been approved by its Property and Facilities Committee.
The 3,000-seat arena will host gymnastics, volleyball and wrestling, with the project to also include a performance centre that will serve the university’s strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition, and mental well-being needs for 16 of its 19 intercollegiate athletics programmes.
Groundbreaking for the project is tentatively scheduled for early 2023. The university has pitched Victory Heights as a “significant transformational opportunity” that will immediately boost the trajectory of Pitt Athletics.
The new complex, which will span 240,000 feet, will be built on space next to Petersen Events Center, which serves as the home of the university’s basketball teams.
Director of athletics Heather Lyke said: “We are incredibly grateful for the university’s support and commitment to Victory Heights and an ambitious future for Pitt Athletics. The University of Pittsburgh is committed to excellence in every endeavour it undertakes.
“Victory Heights is the latest example of Pitt’s vision to transform our training and teaching environments to allow our student-athletes to achieve at the highest competitive levels. This is more than an investment in facilities; it’s an investment in our young people and their championship dreams at Pitt.”
