The San Diego State football team’s biggest victory this fall came not on the football field, where the Aztecs are 7-4, but at the ballot box.
That’s where Proposition “G” in this month’s general election gave the Aztecs what its opponent Saturday night, the University of Hawaii, longs for — the go-ahead for a new football stadium.
The measure, which received 55 percent voter approval, requires the city of San Diego to negotiate a fair market price for the 132-acre Mission Valley parcel, where 51-year-old San Diego County Credit Union Stadium is located, so that the school can proceed with its SDSU West plans.
In addition to a 35,000-seat stadium very much like the one envisioned for Honolulu, SDSU plans housing and ancillary development on the site, a five-minute trolley ride west of its main Montezuma Mesa campus, which serves a nearly 35,000 student enrollment.
As soon as the school concludes negotiations with the city, SDSU athletic director John David Wicker has made it clear “we want to have a shovel in the ground the next day,” athletic department spokesman Mike May told the Star-Advertiser.
Like UH, the only other school in the 12-member Mountain West Conference that doesn’t own or operate its stadium, the Aztecs have called an aging, decaying facility, SDCCU Stadium, home.
Unlike the rusting 44-year-old Aloha Stadium, SDCCU — formerly known as Qualcomm, Jack Murphy and San Diego Stadium— was largely built and expanded to a 70,561-seat capacity for pro teams, the NFL Chargers and MLB Padres, and hosted two Super Bowls.
But with their departures — the Los Angeles Chargers currently playing in Carson and the Padres downtown at Petco Park — and rising maintenance costs, the Aztecs face a $1.1 million annual rent bill beginning next year, energizing efforts to get their own stadium, one that better fills its needs and ambitions.
The Aztecs also faced fierce competition on the ballot from a group that sought the same land to bring Major League Soccer to Mission Valley with Proposition “E,” a measure that ultimately drew 30 percent support.
In laying out their plans for a new home, the Aztecs have also followed some of the blueprint and have hired the same architectural design firm, Populous, employed by fellow Mountain West Conference members Colorado State and Hawaii. CSU debuted Canvas Stadium, its 41,000-seat on-campus facility in Fort Collins, Colo., last year.
CSU’s well-appointed stadium cost $220 million to build and the Aztecs have put a $250 million construction price tag on theirs, which they had pledged to do without student fees, tuition or state tax money. Financing will be primarily through fundraising, bonds and development revenue, an official said.
Like the proposed successor to Aloha Stadium, SDSU is looking to ancillary development, particularly in the retail and housing sectors, to help defray costs. And, similar to Canvas Stadium, which attracted $37 million in naming rights and is bringing in concerts and other events, the Aztecs are looking to widespread revenue streams, including making it available to MLS use.
Meanwhile, as Aloha Stadium gets older and more costly just to keep operating … well, the wishing continues here.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
