Steelers back proposal for fund to maintain sports venues
The Pittsburgh Steelers have lined up behind a proposal to use local tax dollars to help support capital improvements to Heinz Field, PNC Park, PPG Paints Arena, and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Mark Hart, the team’s vice president of planning and development, said the $1.16 million that the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority is seeking to set up the multifacility reserve fund will help to keep the venues well-maintained.
“The SEA, like any landlord, has lease obligations for capital repairs. This request will help ensure that these buildings continue to host and promote events, concerts, conventions and games,” he said.
The Penguins declined comment on the SEA proposal before the Allegheny Regional Asset District board. A Pirates spokesman did not return phone calls or an email seeking comment.
County Councilman Robert Macey said Thursday that he opposes the request.
“To take $1.16 million and to give it to those people who have the deepest pockets — those people who walk around almost every day, and I’m being a little facetious, with $1.16 million in their pockets — is not what I signed on for,” he said.
SEA officials are asking the Allegheny Regional Asset District board to earmark $1.16 million from county sales tax revenue next year to help with capital repairs and improvements to the four venues, all owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority.
Mary Conturo, SEA executive director, has said her hope is that the RAD board will continue to supply the same amount for the fund in future years.
Any money budgeted for that purpose would be in addition to the $13.4 million a year that the Regional Asset District already allocates to pay off debt related to the construction of Heinz Field and PNC Park.
Commonly referred to as Plan B — and more derisively by its opponents — the stadium funding mechanism has been a continuing source of controversy and anger among some Pittsburghers.
Ms. Conturo has said the
multifacility reserve fund is needed to supplement individual reserve funds set up to handle capital improvements and repairs to the two North Shore venues, the arena and the convention center as they age. Heinz Field and PNC Park opened in 2001, the arena in 2010, and the convention center in 2003.
The Steelers and the Pirates have clashed with the SEA in recent years over proposed improvements to Heinz Field and PNC Park and whether those should be paid for out of the venues’ reserve funds, financed through ticket surcharges, or paid for by the teams themselves.
As part of a 2014 deal with the Steelers to add 3,000 seats to Heinz Field, the SEA vowed to use its “best efforts” to persuade the RAD board to allocate at least $800,000 a year to establish the same type of multifacility fund it is now requesting.
If the new fund is not created, the Steelers have the right next year to drop the extra $1 they added to a $3 ticket surcharge to help finance future capital improvements as part of the 2014 agreement.
Mr. Hart would not say whether the Steelers would do so if the Regional Asset Board rejects the SEA request.
“We intend to live by the agreements we make. We expect all parties to also live by the agreements and we need to create a mechanism to ensure that we have adequate funds to address the capital repair needs of the buildings,” he said.
In defending the need for the fund, Mr. Hart said Heinz Field and PNC Park — coupled with the offices, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues that have been developed between them — have “exceeded every expectation” in terms of job creation and expanded taxes “and we want that to continue, obviously.”
He added there is more private investment on the way, though he declined to be more specific.
“Proper maintenance is necessary to leverage our future investments,” he said. “We want to ensure that Heinz Field is safe, maintained, and functional.”
Mr. Hart said there is already precedent for RAD’s involvement in funding capital improvements.
The Regional Asset District in July made the final payment — $685,000 — on debt used to fund improvements made at various points to the former Civic Arena, which was demolished in 2012. Debt payments were once as high as $3.2 million annually.
Ms. Conturo is asking the board to redirect that money to the new multifacility reserve fund.
“I think without this reallocation, all parties would need to work even harder in creating an adequate fund to address the needs of the building,” Mr. Hart said.
In lobbying earlier this year for a cut of the revenue from sports betting to help pay for renovations to PNC Park, Frank Coonelly, the Pirates president, maintained the ballpark’s reserve fund was not sufficient to meet growing capital needs.
Dan Griffin, RAD board chairman, has said he is generally supportive of the proposal to establish the fund as long as the sports teams continue to contribute to the individual reserve accounts set up for their venues.
In opposing the request, Mr. Macey said he believes RAD money should be used to help communities, organizations, and arts and cultural groups that “don’t have the wherewithal to maintain their existence but are an asset to our region.”
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who could not be reached for comment, appoints four of the seven regional asset board members with approval by county council.