Clark Construction tops off $310 Aztec Stadium at SDSU

Construction crews have topped off the $310 million Aztec football stadium at San Diego State University (SDSU).

The lifting and setting of the final steel beam on the structure occurred on July 14.

Clark Construction is the project’s general contractor.

“(The topping-off ceremony) represents a significant milestone because we go from that raw construction of foundation and structure and we then go into the next phase of the finishing touches,” Carlos Gonzalez, president of the contractor’s Southern California division and SDSU alumnus, said at the ceremony. “This is a great moment of celebration in construction.”

“Things don’t quite change as quickly as they do with steel, but they still transform,” Gonzalez said. “Before the end of the year, we’ll have the first seat installed, and I’m sure we’ll see a lot of you back to continue celebrating the progress on construction.”

Work started on the project in November 2020 and is expected to be completed in time for the start of the season in Sept. 2022.

“The new stadium is only the first addition to what will be an entirely new addition to the SDSU campus,” The Daily Aztec student newspaper reported. “The expansion project includes around 4,000 new homes, classrooms and a new river park on the south end of the project. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said this is exactly how he expects San Diego to grow.”

The skeleton of the new Aztec Stadium is all that stands in the land that was once the parking lot of SDCCU Stadium. Tractors are being used to transfer and flatten dirt around the job site in preparation for the rest of the expansion. Leaders of the project said an expected 6,000 workers will have worked on the stadium by its completion, the Daily Aztec reported.