Sacred Heart’s Pioneers will be exploring new territory next year when they leave behind the Northeast Conference and join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Pitt Center where the university’s Division I basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams host games will be upgraded accordingly.
“We’re excited to see the Pitt Center evolve and become a premiere sporting arena,” said SHU President John J. Petillo. “With the Pioneers’ transition from the Northeast Conference to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, we are committed, more than ever, to providing our student-athletes with a competitive environment. Renovating the Pitt Center with state-of the-art features is part of that process. It’s important we show our Pioneers we are dedicated to their success.”
“We’re completely transforming the inside of Pitt Center,” explained Judy Ann Riccio, Sacred Heart’s director of athletics. “It’s currently four courts that all face the same direction. We’re taking our main basketball court and turning it 90 degrees and building more of a basketball arena as opposed to right now where we sort of have a court with bleachers.”
Demolition to make way for the renovations will start March 18 according to Riccio, with an expected completion date around October 15.
“Our campus is so beautiful,” Riccio said of the need for the renovation, “and really the Pitt Center was not up to that same standard that we have now on campus. Additionally, we opened up Martire Family Arena last January. That is a spectacular facility. We saw that when we elevated the experience, we got more attendance and we had more engaged attendees. So, we are using that model and bringing it over here to the Pitt Center.”
The original facility opened in 1997 and provides courts, weight rooms, and other athletic facilities for a number of purposes spread across 3 floors. It was named for William H. Pitt, the founder of William Pitt Real Estate who donated $3 million to Sacred Heart University, a portion of which helped provide financing for the original $13.8 million building.
Riccio said that there had been hopes to include a scoreboard over the center of the primary court as seen in many basketball stadiums but keeping it a viable venue for volleyball games requires the use of a more traditional wall mounted format instead. There will however be significant upgrades for spectators.
“We’re looking at about 2,200 to 2,250 seats,” Riccio explained. While only a modest net gain of roughly 200 seats, the current arrangement only has bleacher seating. “The new arena will have chair back seating, which is certainly a more comfortable way to watch the game.”
“That will allow for a much better fan experience,” continued Riccio, “with the elevated concessions we’ll also have a VIP hospitality area. Those are things that we just don’t currently have in the space
A revamp of the Pitt Center’s audiovisual and lighting systems is also planned.
Ice hockey at Martire Family Arena games there have been known to sell out and she expressed hope that the renovations will achieve the same for other sports.
The design and construction of the renovations are being handled by S/L/A/M Collaborative, a design and construction firm founded in Connecticut that has a portfolio featuring many college athletic facilities across the entire country.
