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Petersen Events Center improvements revealed

By Craig Meyer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 7 years ago

Lost in the shuffle of last night’s unveiling of the Pitt script uniforms for all 19 of the university’s teams — it’s alright to call it a fashion show, guys — was some interesting news about changes that will be made this year to the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt AD Scott Barnes had mentioned those improvements to me last week at the ACC spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., but on Wednesday night, mock-ups of those projects were revealed. The changes, for now, are mostly cosmetic. With the reintroduction of the script logo, the Panthers will be getting a new court. In addition to that, the team’s practice facility will be getting refurbished and there will be a new backdrop behind one of the baskets in which there will be banners for retired player numbers and an illustration of the Cathedral of Learning that Barnes said will light up after every men’s and women’s basketball win.

All that work, Barnes said, will be complete by the beginning of fall, so it will be ready for the upcoming season. Beyond that, he mentioned, without going into specifics, that the Petersen Events Center will be receiving more upgrades as part of a larger three-year plan.

“Literally every playing venue and practice venue that we have will get a facelift with the new Pitt script and some other branding elements that attract and inspire pride with our student-athletes, recruits and coaches,” Barnes said Wednesday. “That’s really the goal in everything we do, to inspire pride.”

Here are photos of those renderings that were on display last night:


New Pitt basketball court (Craig Meyer/Post-Gazette)

 


New backdrop in Petersen Events Center (Craig Meyer/Post-Gazette)

 


New practice court (Craig Meyer/Post-Gazette)

 

And, since it was the central reason for everyone being there last night, here are Pitt’s jerseys, for the two or three of you all that haven’t seen them yet. Personally, I’m a fan of the look, especially since they stuck to a clean and simple template. But the second anyone starts seeking fashion validation from me, they’re in a whole heap of trouble.

 

If you have any questions or comments about the new uniforms or the Pete improvements, feel free to comment below.

 

Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG