Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field

Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is home to the Duquesne University Dukes football, men's and women's soccer, and women's lacrosse teams. The facility's seats are erected every fall and taken-down every summer. Every winter, a large bubble is placed on the field for practices and conditioning for the university's varsity teams. The bubble has been a tenant for Pittsburgh Steelers practices.

The 1993 completion of Rooney Field enabled the Dukes to play football on campus for the first time since 1929. A six-foot excavation transformed what was once a faculty and staff parking lot into the current focus of "the Bluff." The space limitations inherent to the university's 48-acre plot required that Rooney Field be one of the few in college football that run east-to-west. Concrete bleachers are set into the excavation on the Academic Walk side of the field, and temporary bleachers are installed on the Bluff Street side to accommodate fans during the football season.

The Beard Press Box, a three-tier structure funded by a contribution from the Eugene Beard family, was completed in the summer of 1995. The field itself is named for Duquesne alumnus and founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney.

References

*cite web | title =Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field | publisher =Duquesne Athletics | url =http://goduquesne.cstv.com/facilities/duqu-facil-rooney-field.html | accessdate =2007-10-15