If you have spent time recently in Mission Valley or driven either side of the I-8 freeway, you likely have noticed change taking place.

What was once a large parcel of land that played home to the Chargers, Aztecs, Padres and more has been taking on a drastically new look.

After a few seasons of playing “home” games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, the San Diego State University Aztecs will finally have a real place to call home later this year. That is one literally only yards from where they played football for decades and created many memories.

Snapdragon Stadium, which initially went by the name Aztec Stadium, is set to take centerstage later this year at an estimated cost of $310 million.

Coming off an outstanding 12-2 season, including a 38-24 victory in the Frisco Bowl over UTSA last December, SDSU’s win total was a school record.

With football set to return to Mission Valley this season (SDSU opens at home versus Arizona on Sept. 3), Aztec students, staff, alumni and others will be able to enjoy seeing the Red and Black up close again. That is without having to hop in a vehicle, board a bus or more options and battle traffic to Carson.

Playing home football games since the fall of 1967 at what was then known as San Diego Stadium (later became Jack Murphy Stadium), the Aztecs became homeless starting with the 2020 season. SDSU played both the 2020 and 2021 campaigns in Carson.

This became a necessity once it was determined that SDCCU Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium, Jack Murphy Stadium and then Qualcomm Stadium) was no longer suitable for play. The stadium became expendable once the Los Angeles Chargers (formerly San Diego Chargers for decades) moved north to play beginning with the 2017 NFL season. The Chargers temporarily played in Carson before settling in the last several seasons with the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood at SoFi Stadium. That is the same stadium set to host the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 13.

In early summer 2020, the city of San Diego signed off on selling SDCCU Stadium to San Diego State for more than $85 million. Before that summer was over, the school officially would end up owning the land.

According to Derek Grice, SDSU executive associate athletic director for Mission Valley development, everything is on schedule for the new stadium to open on time.

“We’ve had to deal like many others with the pandemic and supply chain issues,” Grice commented. “We have an incredible team and everyone has been pulling the right levers to stay on track.”

Grice went on to say that the response from coaches, athletes and others who will get to use the new stadium has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We have a state-of-the-art stadium built for San Diego that will embody our community,” Grice remarked. “This will give us a true home field advantage and also help us on the road with recruiting.”

Grice noted that SDSU officials involved in the project did look at a lot of collegiate and pro stadiums nationwide when seeing what to integrate into Snapdragon Stadium. “We’ve gotten good feedback from other teams on what we’re doing here,” Grice added.

Along with SDSU football and several other Aztec teams playing outdoors benefitting from the new venue, the stadium will see myriad of uses in 2022 and in the years to come.

Some CIF high school athletics and top concerts are among the plans for the stadium, according to Grice.

Meantime, Major League Rugby (MLR) will also find a home at Snapdragon Stadium. The San Diego Legion will begin play there in 2023. Also, the San Diego Wave FC women’s soccer club is slated to play in the stadium this year once it is open. Finally, World Lacrosse recently awarded its 2023 men’s world championship to San Diego, with Snapdragon Stadium slated to play host to premier games.

Stadium is but one piece of the puzzle

The new stadium is but one piece of the puzzle set to unfold over time to serve both locals and visitors to the area.

San Diego State’s Mission Valley Campus Master Plan is focused on providing the school with the ability to increase enrollment and expand programs in the years to come. Housing for SDSU students, staff, faculty and the San Diego community is also part of the plan along with commercial and hotel space.

The plan also calls for a regional community River Park to be completed in the next year or so. The park area would provide a large swath of outdoor space for locals and visitors to enjoy myriad of activities along the river, including members of the Navajo community.

According to Gina Jacobs, associate vice president of Mission Valley Development, things are moving along on schedule with this end of the project.

“Approximately 80 acres of park and open space are being developed on site, including a 34-acre River Park along the southern portion of the property,” Jacobs stated. “CSU (California State University) is the permitting agency for the park and as part of the purchase and sale agreement, the 34-acre river park was dedicated as park space in perpetuity. The park will be under construction this year and is expected to be completed in late 2023.”

When the 10 acres set aside for the Navajo Community is completed, it should be a welcomed addition for members of the community and visitors to enjoy using in a variety of ways.

“All of the park space is being developed as a large cohesive park for which the public will have access,” Jacobs remarked. “The River Park includes three active recreation fields, a children’s play area, a public restroom, basketball courts, picnic areas and miles of bike and pedestrian paths, and native plants, among many other improvements.”

As Jacobs pointed out, SDSU’s landscape architect (Schmidt Design Group) has designed some of the most iconic parks throughout the San Diego area. “The park design is inspired by the riparian environment of the San Diego River and the cultural history of the site,” Jacobs added.

With the new football stadium slated to be ready for the season opener and the River Park at the end of next year, all appears to be falling into place on this valuable piece of land.

The full development is slated to be built over the next decade, according to Jacobs.

“The rough graded development parcels are planned to be available for construction at the end of the year,” Jacobs noted. “As it relates to housing, we don’t anticipate doing traditional student housing (i.e. residence halls) onsite but instead multi-family housing including 10 percent affordable housing onsite.”

With so much change slated for the area, there is much to be excited about for locals and those visiting this region of San Diego.

“We look forward to delivering on our vision of SDSU Mission Valley which will expand the university’s educational and economic impact in our region, increase access to higher education and further our research enterprise,” Jacobs added.

(Courtesy photo SDSU Athletics)

– Reach editor Dave Thomas – [email protected].