As part of its ongoing planning process for the facility, San Diego State University has awarded the construction contract on its new stadium to Clark Construction Group.
In November, SDSU West–a proposal that includes a new $250 million Aztecs football stadium and surrounding development at the SDCCU Stadium site–was chosen to move forward by San Diego voters, who also rejected the competing SoccerCity. SDSU put the proposal’s construction contract up for grabs as part of a competitive bidding process launched in November, and Thursday revealed that the contract had been awarded to Clark Construction Group, a Bethesda, MD-based firm whose previous experience includes Petco Park–the home of MLB’s San Diego Padres.
With the new SDSU stadium construction contract awarded, the university will look to finish the process of selecting the facility’s architect. That selection could be revealed before the end of this month. More from the San Diego-Union Tribune:
SDSU’s newly contracted builder Clark Construction is based in Bethesda, Maryland. It was established in 1906 and is responsible for a number of high-profile developments ranging from residential towers and high-end hotels to government buildings. In the sports world, the construction company is behind Nationals Park in Washington D.C., where the Major League Baseball franchise the Washington Nationals play, as well as the renovated press box at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
“(Clark Construction) has done a lot of work in San Diego and on San Diego State’s campus,” [SDSU athletic director John David] Wicker said, referencing projects such as Petco Park and the university’s Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences building. “We’ve had a really good experience with them and they’re familiar with CSU processes.”
The stadium will stay consistent with the conceptual ideas floated publicly ahead of the November election, Wicker said. That means a variety of seating types, including premium options and standing-room-only areas. The final look is subject to a design process that will start in the weeks ahead.
Clark Construction will work jointly with the university to pick an architect and that process is already under way. A winner should be announced before the end of March.
Plans for the new SDSU stadium call for it to host more than college football, as it will also be designed to accommodate soccer and be expandable from 35,000 to 55,000 seats in the event that it lands an NFL franchise. The university is looking to break ground on the facility next year and open it in time for the 2022 college football season, but that is contingent upon a process that includes an environmental review and acquiring 132 acres of land from the city at fair market value.
Rendering courtesy Populous and San Diego State University.
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