The Pittsburgh Pirates today presented the final plans for the installation of commemorative bronze plaques at PNC Park, adorning the messages originally displayed at the ballpark as part of the “Bucco Bricks” program. The presentation to the Sports Exhibition Authority (SEA) of Pittsburgh was given by Pirates President Travis Williams and included the final designs of the plan developed by the Pirates and renowned architect and urban planner Janet Marie-Smith and her colleagues at The Canopy Team. The SEA approved the plan and will be reviewed with the City of Pittsburgh’s Arts Commission later this month.
The plan includes a permanent installation of 60 bronze plaques on the façade of PNC Park along West General Robinson Street and Mazeroski Way. The bronze plaques are approximately five feet in height, by six feet in length, and include nearly 170 messages on each. Each message will be displayed in the original rectangular and square format, with the font size the same as the original messages that were engraved on the bricks embedded in the sidewalks around PNC Park. The plaques in all will display the more than 10,000 messages that have been with the park since its opening in 2001.
“We know how important these messages and memories are to our fans,” said Williams. “This plan accomplishes our stated goal of improving upon the permanence of the display while maintaining the essence of the original program. We believe we have developed a solution for these messages that will stand the test of time, and the passion and dedication of our fans will remain a permanent fixture at PNC Park.”
The 60 large bronze plaques will be installed on the PNC Park facade, with the height of the plaques following the Arriscraft stone height to blend with the architectural lines around the exterior perimeter of the ballpark. Fans who have messages from the original display will be able to locate their message and/or name by year in the same manner as the original program. The installation of the new display is scheduled to be finalized by Opening Day 2026.
The new plaques will be a more sustainable way to display the messages, as the bronze material is more durable than the original bricks. Through the years, a host of environmental factors, including weather and foot traffic, have led to significant damage to the original bricks and unsafe conditions for our fans, leading to multiple, full-scale replacements. This cycle of deterioration prompted the organization to look for a better way to preserve these cherished messages over the long term.
The updated vertical design will allow for these messages to be viewed more easily in comparison to the original display. Fans often could not find their messages due to wear and tear, foot traffic during game days, and other complications.