Dustin Helm arrived on the North Shore 90 minutes before parking lots opened for the first University of Pittsburgh football game of the season, as he has done for the past seven-plus years.
When the lots opened last weekend, Helm attempted to turn left in Lot 7C and make his way to his usual space. Instead, he said, he was directed by the attendant to go right.
“This is not what we asked for,” said Helm of Murrysville, a Pitt season ticket holder for more than three decades. “They never told us they were going to change this.
“What we’ve created over all these years will now be thrown away.”
About 3,000 fewer surface spots are available for tailgating now compared to when Acrisure Stadium and PNC Park opened in 2001, thanks in large part to development on the North Shore, said Merrill Stabile, president of Alco Parking Corp. The number of parking spots is the same — about 8,000 — but that total includes spots in parking garages, where tailgating is not permitted.
It’s changing the tailgating landscape, according to fans.
“This experience is precious to us,” Helm said. “They are trying to take that away.”
Stabile said at one time letting people park where they wanted for Pitt games was possible because the lots didn’t get crowded. But the fewer spots has necessitated forced parking — where cars are sent to designated spaces.
“If you looked at an aerial photo of the North Shore in 2001 versus now, you would see that any land that was developed was accompanied by a parking garage nearby to compensate for the loss of surface parking spaces,” Stabile said. “It was about preserving the amount of parking for fans by the teams. The only loss was to those who desired tailgating spaces.”
Jeff Stem of O’Hara said he doesn’t want to park in a garage, which is why he bought an ambulance — it won’t fit in a garage — and turned it into a tailgating vehicle. He said he paid $500 for two spots last year and pays $800 this season.
“There is nothing we can do,” Stem said. “They are changing the game-day experience. I think the city is trying to eliminate surface lots. I have only been doing this a few years, but there are people who have been tailgating here for 30 years in the same spot. That is their spot.”
He said fans wait in line to get their spot first.
“Tailgates are part of the game-day experience,” he said. “I have memories of tailgating when I was little, and I want my daughter to have those memories, too.”
Helm said he and his old Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers and their families chose Lot 7C because, he said, lots 7A, 7B and 7C are supposed to be “park where you want” lots. Others who arrive later will know where to find the group. He paid $220 for his space for the season.
He said he voiced his opinion to Alco, which operates the lot, and Pitt, where he purchased his space. He said the lot was not full last weekend and suggested this Saturday when Pitt hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats at 6:30 p.m. that parking attendants let cars that arrive early turn left and go to the end of that part of the lot to park.
Stabile said he works with Pitt to control the parking so everyone is accommodated.
Most of the spots are pre-paid through Pitt. Alco sells some, and others are purchased on game days.
“We are not trying to kill tailgates,” Stabile said. “We are just trying to control it and not have it spread out to where cars coming into the lot can’t get through because tailgates are already set up.”
He said he apologizes for not getting the word out sooner about the forced parking and that Steelers fans are acclimated to it.
“Now that the crowds are bigger (for Pitt games), it is necessary to implement (forced parking) in additional lots,” Stabile said. “When there is no forced parking, people go and park where they please, setting up tables around them and using up extra spaces. They would then not relinquish these spaces to parkers arriving later. These people complained just as profusely — and we felt they were more justified.
“Our goal is to accommodate as many parkers as possible. This was not a problem in prior years when crowds were lighter and there were more unused spaces.”
Helm’s fraternity brother, Mark Czap of Chester County, said it is an unwritten rule — like when people go to church and sit in the same pew week after week or people who sit in the same section in the stadium.
Featured Local Businesses
“We are accustomed to being next to each other,” he said. “You get to know each other. It brings people together. Sports are steeped in tradition. They could have given us some pre-warning. I know this isn’t life or death, but it’s frustrating.”
John Dusch’s traditional spot in Red Lot 6 could be in jeopardy after this season.
Alco is involved in the development of condominiums that will be built in that lot, which sits across from PNC Park. Stabile said construction likely won’t begin until after January.
But the project will take away 250 spaces. It’s been the lot where Dusch, his nephew Joe Dusch, and their friend, Gene Rizzuto, all of Greenfield, have been tailgating for years. They arrive early to get in five hours of tailgating before kickoff.
“We do this to make people happy and give them a few hours to not worry about the stresses of life,” Rizzuto said.
John Dusch is paying for two spaces, one in his current lot and one in Red Lot 7D, to make sure he has a space for Panthers and Steelers games.
South Hills Association of Tailgaters’ commissioner Pat Thompson knows how it feels to be displaced from a spot. The original tailgate was in lot Green 22 on Ridge Avenue for 12 years. Thompson of Collier said they were told they had to move and that spaces were available in a nearby parking garage.
“We didn’t want to go to a garage,” Thompson said. “So one of our members found us a spot to lease from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority.”
They have 17 parking passes for $30 each and are a few minutes farther away from the stadium. They usually tailgate with 80 to 100 people.
“With anything, communication is key,” said Thompson. “Most challenging situations can be worked out if people talk about it.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne by email at jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Tailgating policy
The tailgating policy as of June 1, 2021, states there is no tailgating permitted in garages, no open flames are permitted, and nothing is to be placed on the ledges of the garage.
Failure to comply could result in revocation of your parking privileges and/or monetary fines.
Moderate and responsible tailgating will be accepted in surface lots. Parking management reserves the right to curtail or prohibit gatherings that adversely affect traffic and safety within the lots
For all North Shore parking options, all locations open five hours prior to game time.
No tents are permitted. No fires other than cooking grills are permitted. Grills are not permitted in any garages. No personal or private toilets or port-a-johns are permitted. No sale of alcohol is permitted.
No campers, RV's, motorhomes, limos, Uhaul trucks, or buses will be permitted into stadium parking lots.
They do not sell parking spaces to tailgate in. A vehicle must be parked in every space.
Source: Alco Parking Corp.