Crews mount classic Heinz ketchup bottle on Acrisure Stadium

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh icon has made its way back inside the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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One of the massive Heinz ketchup bottles is back, months after it was removed during the Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadum transition. Its new home is at Heinz Gate C.

One of the 35-foot fiberglass ketchup bottles, previously displayed inside Heinz field, is now mounted on the outside of Acrisure Stadium. Tuesday morning, a large crane and several crews worked together to bring the bottle past the gates and mount it onto two braces.

“It then has to be placed on a diagonal, which is how the graphics and the original layout showed that it be on angle, as if the ketchup was going to pour out of it,” said Sandy Steffan, vice president of Steffan Industries.

Several contractors were hired for the project. It’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort that took months of behind-the-scenes work and preparation.

“It had to be completely sanded – Precision Painting did all of that. They sanded the entire bottle, stripped it all down, and put it in their very large paint booth,” said Nick Benevento of Laurel Printing Graphics. “We matched the colors perfectly, back and forth with that, to make sure it was a perfect hit.”

Crews said it was a tall order but one that was worth the wait, for both Steelers fans and those who put their hearts and souls into the project.

“The Heinz ketchup bottle is such an iconic piece of Pittsburgh history, so the fact that us as a small business was able to be a part of this,” Steffen said.

“This is probably the coolest project I’ve done,” said Benevento. “It’s my baby.”

Crews are also going to work on refinishing the other Heinz ketchup bottle, but were not able to say what’s in store.

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