The End of SDCCU Stadium
From the now dried-out grass, to the fluorescent lights up above, inside the stadium in Mission Valley sits the eerie, now empty Chargers locker room.
And how about the spiral ramp leading from the Plaza level to the Loge level that every kid raced up and down, a time or two.
SDCCU Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, the Murph, whatever you want to call it, the 53-year-old structure is soon to be a San Diego memory.
"We will start in the next month or so, disposing of the interior things. When we knock it down, things need to be taken out, or given a new place," said Gina Jacobs, Associate Vice President of Mission Valley Development. "We're going to try and salvage some of the seats, so that we can make those available for sale."
The stadium was home to many great San Diego memories. Who can forget LaDainian Tomlinson's record breaking touchdown? Steve Garvey's playoff home run in 1984? Marshall Faulk running wild one Saturday afternoon against USC?
"We certainly recognize that this has been a big part of San Diego's history, and we're looking forward to our new facility being a part of San Diego's future. This is something that is going to be a better fit for San Diego State and for San Diego," Jacobs said.
Over the past couple years, we've seen stadium renderings, but now we are seeing progress at the Mission Valley site, as construction is now underway.
"We are very committed to having the new stadium open in the fall of 2022. It's really gratifying to see that not only are we able to bring to San Diego the things that we have really been looking for, for a really long time. But to do it, in a way that we really integrated community input into the process, and bringing forward something that all of San Diego can be proud of," said Jacobs.
On Saturday, October 24th, the Aztecs start a two- year temporary home stadium relocation to Dignity Health Sports Center in Carson, California.
Carson is just 13 miles south of downtown L.A., so San Diego residents will have to trek through two counties over 110 miles to attend home games.
Far as it may be, it is a great venue. Host to many professional football events the past several years Dignity Health Sports Center was where the NFL’s Chargers called home in 2017-2019. The XFL’s Wildcats made their debut there this Spring. The venue also played host to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl from 2012 through 2017, and is the current home of the LA Galaxy.
