San Diego State University celebrated the topping out of its new stadium in Mission Valley on Wednesday as Clark Construction placed the final steel beam.
The 35,000-seat facility will be ready in less than 14 months for the season-opening football game against the University of Arizona on Sept. 3, 2022.
Just several hundred yards away is the rubble of what was Qualcomm Stadium, demolished to make way for an expanded campus, river park and new housing after the San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles.
Mayor Todd Gloria and SDSU President Adela de la Torre signed the top beam in a ceremony at the construction site.
“This swift progress is laudable and should serve as a template for other catalytic civic projects,” said Gloria in his Twitter feed. “The stadium, the future river park and the entire SDSU Mission Valley development is a big, bold project that will give San Diegans and visitors alike something to cheer about.”
While smaller than the old Qualcomm Stadium, the new $310 million facility is designed to be expanded in the future and could accommodate a professional soccer or football team in addition to SDSU sports.