Former home to San Diego Padres and Chargers set to be demolished

San Diego State University will be demolishing the 53-year-old SDCCU Stadium, better known as Jack Murphy Stadium, while building a 35,000-seat stadium next door as the first phase of a campus expansion.

According to the Associated Press, the former home to the San Diego Padres and Chargers had fallen into a state of disrepair and fans knew it eventually would come down.

The Chargers had pushed for nearly 15 years to get a new stadium built, but after a failed 2016 ballot measure (which would have raised hotel taxes 4 percent to secure $1.15 billion in bonds to help pay for the proposed downtown stadium), they bolted for Los Angeles. However, San Diego State prevailed at the ballot box in 2018 to win the right to buy 132 of the site’s 166 acres.

SDSU planned to continue playing at SDCCU Stadium while building its new stadium, set to open in 2022. But when it became clear fans wouldn’t be allowed at games due to the pandemic, the Aztecs decided to play at a suburban Los Angeles MLS stadium and begin tearing down SDCCU Stadium.

The last game there was Iowa’s 49-24 victory over Southern California in the 2019 Holiday Bowl.

Known as San Diego Stadium when it opened in 1967, it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium in 1981 for the late sports editor of The San Diego Union. Murphy helped persuade hotelier Barron Hilton to move his Chargers from Los Angeles to San Diego in 1961, and then championed the stadium’s construction to replace Balboa Stadium. It was expanded in 1997 and renamed Qualcomm Stadium.

But to many, it will always be known as The Murph.

“Anytime you want to bond with a San Diegan, whether it’s here or anywhere across the country, just say the words, ‘The Murph, what about The Murph,’” said Ted Giannoulas, who is semi-retired as the San Diego Chicken, former mascot for the Padres. “The smiles would automatically cross their face, and the happiness, the memories, the joy were just remarkable.”