Party's Over
North Shore Development Threatens Tailgating
By Jim Lachimia

The North Shore facelift that began with the construction of Heinz Field and PNC Park continues. Proposed construction in and around the two ballparks includes hotels, corporate headquarters, an amphitheater, and possibly a casino to be built on what are now parking lots. Both the Pirates and Steelers have marvelous new facilities loaded with plenty of places to eat and drink. Bars and restaurants such as Hi-Tops, Firewaters, Atria's, Castellano's and Finnegan's Wake dot the neighborhood. In light of these developments, it would be reasonable to assume that interest in an old Pittsburgh favorite - tailgating - is beginning to wane.

Merrill Stabile is the president of Alco Parking and his company owns, manages or leases approximately 95 percent of the lots and garages that surround PNC Park and Heinz Field. That makes him one of Pittsburgh's foremost authorities on tailgating. A recent conversation with Stabile yielded an interesting history lesson and some keen insight on the topic.

"Tailgating began largely because there was a shortage of parking spaces - primarily for football games - way back when Three Rivers Stadium was built," he said. "So people had to come in three, four hours early and there was no place to eat or drink between then and game time. They figured out what to do with that free time by tailgating.

"Now people have more options than just standing outside in the parking lot. There are definitely more restaurants and bars, but especially if it's a nice day, people still enjoy the whole experience of tailgating."

Stabile said the folks at Alco Parking don't have a problem with tailgating when done in moderation. However, because recent development on the North Side continues to make parking a premium, there is one steadfast rule everyone is required to abide by. You cannot use more than one parking space.

"We don't want to discourage tailgating, but we don't want to encourage it to the level that it once was, where people were using seven or eight spaces and putting grills and all kinds of things in them," Stabile said. "Some of these tailgate parties are still pretty elaborate, and that's okay as long as it's not done to the detriment of other people around them or people that are looking for parking spaces."

Pirates' Vice President of PNC Park Operations & Facilities Management Dennis DaPra said the ballclub neither encourages nor discourages tailgating, and that its fan base has clearly indicated that parking is an important issue.

"We are constantly looking at parking because it is so critical to sports facilities," DaPra said."People have to be able to park quickly and conveniently."

One way the Pirates and Steelers addressed that situation was by offering season ticket holders reserved parking. That lessens the need to arrive at the stadium well in advance of game time. Through much of the Three Rivers Stadium era, trying to get a prime parking space meant taking part in a free-for-all.

"Now that people have a space reserved for them, they don't have to get in four and five hours early," Stabile said. "That's one of the dynamics that has changed."

Even though tailgating is more closely associated with football than baseball, the Steelers declined to make anyone available to be interviewed in connection with this story. Team spokesman Ron Wahl said only that the Steelers - like the Pirates - neither encourage nor discourage tailgating. Reason being, when it comes to the subject, they are between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Many of their most loyal and long-time fans absolutely love it, and the experience of going to a game isn't nearly as enjoyable for them if tailgating isn't involved.

Meanwhile, other fans believe tailgating is out of control and leads to a drunkfest that can make Sunday afternoon unpleasant. One can imagine the team is not upset at the prospect of diminished tailgating and the rowdiness associated with it.

"We do have policemen out there who try and keep the crowds under control, but there are always situations that get out of hand that need to be corrected," Stabile said.

Michele Davidovich of Lawrence, Pa., has had Steelers' season tickets in her family since her grandfather first purchased them back in the early 1970s. Tailgating was such a passion in this particular family that her brother Kevin Davidovich bought a Winnebago primarily for that purpose. Every Steelers' home game, with a Winnebago full of family members and friends, he heads down to Heinz Field.

The Davidovichs are a textbook example of avid tailgaters. However, Winnebagos and other oversized vehicles are not welcomed with open arms these days. In fact, Stabile was extremely blunt on that point, saying, "If we (Alco Parking) had our way there would be zero campers. There would be nothing but cars in each space."

Naturally, that doesn't sit well with everyone.

"People who have the Winnebagos and the other oversized vehicles have to go in a certain section, and they don't like it at all," Michele Davidovich said. "I really feel as though they are trying to drive business into the local bars and establishments, or more so into the stadiums. They don't seem to care about tailgaters. There's less and less opportunity to do it.

"But I do believe the serious tailgaters are still down there in full force. There are so many people who have been doing it for so many years, and the spreads some of these people put out are just amazing to me."

Another Steelers' season ticket holder, Todd Schiffhauer of Glenshaw, had this to say. "I think it's still going as strong as ever. All those establishments are more for after the game. There are the diehards who have always been tailgating and they always will. They pull up the trailer and they eat and drink right there, but I think the younger kids go to the bars and then over to the game. Tailgating is tailgating. You cook, you eat, and you drink."

Despite the lavish amenities inside PNC Park and Heinz Field, the proliferation of bars and restaurants on the North Shore, the availability of reserved parking and concerns for public safety, tailgating is not dying.

"No, I would never say that. In some ways, it's just as prevalent as it ever was," Stabile said. "All you have to do is walk through the parking lots before or after any major sporting event, and you can see that. I think there's something to be said for a general critical mass being created and spillover benefiting everyone."

In the end, what could ultimately doom tailgating as the Steeler Nation knows it is development of the surface parking lots at both stadiums - currently ground zero for tailgating. There are, of course, plans to replace the lots with parking garages. But Stabile says that is not the same.

"People will not be tailgating in parking garages," says Stabile. "If there are fewer and fewer surface lots, there will be less and less tailgating."

Jim Lachimia is the editor of the Pirates' monthly On Deck magazine.