Structures
The 2-Year Stadium Construction Project: A Peek Behind the Fast Delivery of San Diego State University's Snapdragon Stadium
The venue opened on time on September 3, 2022. Pretty fast, as stadium projects go. Credit: Gensler
By Martin Jones, Senior Project Manager, Bowman
It also has the potential to grow to become more than a stadium, with later phases to incorporate mixed-use residential and retail, affordable housing, biking and pedestrian trails, and an innovation district with research, lab, and office space. Several factors came together to make for rapid construction. The pandemic, painful as it was, proved to have one silver lining. Qualcomm was demolished far earlier than originally planned. Crews didn't have to work gingerly around an operational public structure while building a huge structure right next to it. The quickened timeline sped up the process while also providing developers with a much-needed resource: dirt.
When the National Football League's San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles in 2017, they left behind Qualcomm Stadium. Once the community decided what to do with the site, little time was wasted. Following a local ballot initiative, San Diego State University (SDSU) took ownership of the site in August 2020. The venue opened on time on September 3, 2022. Pretty fast, as stadium projects go. As site infrastructure design and engineering consultants, Bowman had a significant role in this speedy turnaround. The project plans, led by architectural firm Gensler, called for a fresh build. Qualcomm Stadium, opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium, would be demolished. The new Snapdragon Stadium at SDSU Mission Valley would be home to SDSU Aztecs football, San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League and the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby. To underscore the significance of this moment, the new venue's big debut would be a nationally televised college football game in September 2022. There was a logistical challenge, as the old stadium would continue operating while the new one was built immediately next to it. While not uncommon, it doesn't make a project go any faster. The project was also meant to address a number of environmental concerns, including periods of severe flooding, as the old stadium was on a floodplain where a creek meets the San Diego River. New construction created the opportunity to put an end to the flooding issues.
The new stadium is home to SDSU Aztecs football, San Diego Wave FC of the NWSL and the San Diego Legion of MLR. Credit: iStock
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csengineermag.com
NOVEMBER 2023
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