PITTSBURGH - More than 300 pieces of sports memorabilia found a permanent home Nov. 13 when the new Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum was dedicated.

Located in the Smithsonian wing of the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, the museum pays tribute to the rich sports history of the southwestern part of the state.

The center will soon feature a display highlighting two quarterbacks who grew up in Butler and went on to play professional football.

Scott Milanovich and Terry Hanratty will be part of the Cradle of Quarterbacks display. Ned Schano, communications director for the center, said the display should be finished and available to the public in the near future.

Andrew Masich, president and chief executive officer of the history center, said the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum Champion Committee has been working for three years to get the museum ready to open. The master plan was decided upon in 1998, when the idea to add on to the center was first discussed.

"We did a number of focus groups and sent out a lot of surveys when we were trying to decide what to do," Masich said. "The answer kept coming back that the people wanted a sports museum, so here it is."

The committee is co-chaired by some of the bigger names in regional sports, including Chip Ganassi, Franco Harris, Mario Lemieux, Bill Mazeroski, Stan Musial, Arnold Palmer and Suzie McConnell Serio.

The recent dedication provided an opportunity for about 200 people in attendance to walk around the new exhibits. The five-story, 20,000-square-foot expansion was engineered to blend in to the existing building.

The sports museum occupies the second and third floors and focuses on famous and little-known athletic feats from the region.

As visitors approach the center, they encounter a goalpost that was rescued when Three Rivers Stadium was torn down in 2000 to make way for Heinz Field.

The goalpost is a permanent exhibit placed at the edge of the parking lot across from the center.

When first walking into the sports wing, visitors are greeted by the four Super Bowl trophies won by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s.

The next room features a locker room against one wall opposite a wall of Pittsburgh sports heroes, including Roberto Clemente and Serio. A sign above the doorway leading into the next room states: "Winning Starts Here" and leads to a room where an eight-minute video of Steelers' highlights plays on a loop.

The walls surrounding the large video screen are adorned with pictures of Steelers fans and give one the feeling of being at the stadium during a game. Harris' Immaculate Reception during a Dec. 23, 1972, playoff game against the Oakland Raiders is featured on the video.

Next is a section that asks the visitor "Is It Sport?" and features pictures and equipment used in Ultimate Frisbee, foxhunting, marbles and archery. Power boating and racecar driving let people get up close and personal with a race car before they are guided into a large room dedicated to baseball

in Pittsburgh.

One display gives the dimensions from the four stadiums that have played host to baseball, from Exposition Park in 1891 to present day PNC Park. Barry Bonds, who started his Hall of Fame career in Pittsburgh, is represented by one of his jerseys and a couple of bats.Pirate greats Clemente, Willie Stargell, Mazeroski and Honus Wagner play a perpetual game of baseball. There is also a tribute to the Negro League's Homestead Grays, whose alumni included Satchell Page, the great pitcher who went on to play for the Cleveland Indians.A large part of the third floor is set aside for the fans of Pittsburgh sports. A Terrible Towel car that has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, is on display, as are a couple of Terrible Towel mascots.Hockey and other skating sports are well represented. Current Penguin owner and captain Lemieux is featured on several posters, including one that signified his first goal scored (on Oct. 11, 1984, on his first shot on his first shift in his first game) and another when he scored five goals on Dec. 31, 1988.The rest of the center has plenty of interesting displays that have nothing to do with sports.The first floor is dedicated to the events of 9-11 and features part of the window from the plane that crashed in Somerset County and comments from people who survived the terrorist attacks.In the foyer outside of the 9-11 display is the oldest jeep in the world. Masich said the center will be doing a whole exhibit that will celebrate the jeep and the important role the city of Butler played in its production.The third floor of the original building features a large Lewis and Clark exhibit, which serves as a draw for children, as well as adults.Regardless of their age, guests to the center can now view sports exhibits as part of their visit.