Heinz Field is back in Pittsburgh (sort of)

There is once again a Heinz Field for football fans in the greater Pittsburgh area. It's just not the longtime home of the Pittsburgh Steelers that held that name for more than two decades.

It now belongs to a local high school team in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

Kraft Heinz announced on Tuesday that it was making a $1.3 million donation to the school district and will put its name on the school's newly renovated football stadium.

From the Tribune Review:

“Kraft Heinz is proud to call Pittsburgh home as our co-headquarters, and we’re excited to bring Heinz Field back to the community in a new and meaningful way,” said Carlos Abrams-Rivera, Executive Vice President and President, North America at Kraft Heinz, in a news release. “We look forward to seeing Heinz Field live on as part of the Aliquippa community.”

Aliquippa is one of the elite high school football programs in Western Pennsylvania and has produced an impressive list of NFL players, including Darrelle Revis, Ty Law, Mike Ditka and Sean Gilbert among others. Law, Revis and Ditka are all Hall of Famers, with Revis being inducted this past weekend.

Pittsburgh football fans, who are very committed to tradition, were dismayed this past season when the Steelers and Heinz ended their naming rights agreement. The Steelers' home stadium is now called Acrisure Stadium, which does not have the same local appeal that Heinz provided.

Aliquippa played several WPIAL championship games at the Steelers' version of Heinz Field over the past 23 years, and now it has its own Heinz Field to call home every Friday night in the fall. 

According to the Tribune, the donation from Heinz will help pay for an academic and athletic center attached to the stadium. That center will feature locker rooms, weight training facilities and "a large collaborative creative space for hands-on learning."