Unlike a giant ketchup bottle, this is one piece of Acrisure Stadium that probably won’t make it to the Heinz History Center.
But it will mark the end of an era, to the relief of many, perhaps.
The Steelers are eliminating the last of the stadium’s urinal troughs, those men’s room throwbacks that require a certain confidence and not much aim.
Sports and Exhibition Authority board members on Thursday approved the team’s plans to replace the urinal troughs in four men’s restrooms on the stadium’s upper level with 97 regular urinals with dividers.
The work represents the final phase of a movement to dispose of the troughs, valued for their efficiency — if not their privacy.
Last year, the Steelers spent $1.4 million to upgrade 12 restrooms at their North Shore home. Among them were four upper level men’s rooms — two on the east side and two on the west — where 95 urinals with dividers replaced troughs. They and eight women’s restrooms on the upper level also received a new floor coating as part of the spending.
This year, the team will spend $800,000 to remove the last of the troughs and install the 97 urinals. The restrooms are located on the upper north, west and east sides of the stadium. They also will receive new floor coating.
SSM Industries, Avalotis, and Mascaro Construction will complete the work. The Steelers hope to have the new urinals installed by early summer. They are paying for all of the work.
A team spokesman confirmed that the troughs being removed are the last in the stadium. The Steelers have been upgrading restrooms throughout the 23-year-old venue over the past few years.
Locally and nationally, urinal troughs have sparked debate over the years. Some see them as an efficient way of handling business while others find them borderline medieval.
After Acrisure Stadium, then known as Heinz Field, opened in 2001, one letter writer to the Post-Gazette complained that having troughs instead of urinals in the men’s rooms amounted to “a stupid cost-saving measure.” Another person on Twitter years later bristled that the troughs made the stadium “a borderline dump.”
A 2019 ESPN report found that teams were paying more attention to restrooms as a way of improving the fan experience, with many of them removing the troughs, where men during busy times stand shoulder to shoulder while relieving themselves.
The restroom renovations come as the team prepares to map out a strategy for long-term improvements to Acrisure Stadium.
Steelers President Art Rooney II said recently that the team has hired consultants to assess the stadium and determine what improvements are required in order to stay there "for the next 10, 20 years, whatever it's going to be."
Also Thursday, the SEA board approved $1 million in reimbursements to the Steelers for structural steel painting and replacing the carpeting and acoustical wallcovering in parts of the stadium.
Members also authorized $452,315 in reimbursements to the Pirates for carpet replacement, painting, and renovations to clubhouse areas at PNC Park.
The money for the improvements come from capital reserve accounts set up for both venues and funded through ticket surcharges.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: February 9, 2024, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 10, 2024, 9:07 p.m.
