Measure D would Facilitate the Construction of This Stadium.
San Diego, CALIF.- In a recent radio interview on the Mighty 1090, new SDSU Athletic Director John David Wicker said the athletic department’s number one priority is “building a new Collegiate sized football stadium.”
Wicker appeared on the Scott & BR radio show, the same day he was announced as the university’s new athletic's director. When he mentioned the new stadium was the program's number one need, he was asked to elaborate on his position. Wicker replied, “Yeah, that’s what we need to do (build a Collegiate-sized football stadium), that’s our biggest piece that’s out there that we need to start working on.”
One of the critical tenets of Measure D is allowing the city to sell the Qualcomm site to the university, and allows for a collegiate-style stadium that would go along with higher education expansion and park land in Mission Valley. Wicker stated that the university would prefer an “intimate, 35 to 40,000-seat facility,” compared to the 70,000 seat Qualcomm stadium.
Measure D is the only option this November that could accomplish the needs of SDSU, both for education expansion and the athletic department’s needs. The new stadium would also be the catalyst in bringing an MLS expansion team to San Diego.
READ MORE: Find Out More About Measure D and the Rest of the San Diego Ballot Measures
In September, SDSU conducted a survey that was sent to San Diego State University football season ticket holders and other alumni to gauge their interest in a new 40,000-seat stadium located in Mission Valley.
The survey highlighted the very real opportunity San Diego has to transform the valley into park lands and higher education expansion.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the president of SDSU, Elliot Hirshman, endorsed Measure D in April. The article quotes Hirshman as saying the measure would lay the legal groundwork to turn the 166-acre site into an extension of the SDSU campus.
The same measure would also change the way tourism dollars are allocated, and ensure a more transparent process for voters. But the lasting legacy for the city could lie in its effort to reimagine Mission Valley. It’s that component of the measure that inspired long-time San Diego Councilwoman Donna Frye to sign the measure.
In fact the Yes on D campaign created a grassroots commercial that touted the expansion opportunities for SDSU. The video’s message, “Like the vision that became Balboa Park, its museums and the Zoo, Yes on D will save Qualcomm for open space, a regional park and San Diego State...room for higher education ... and room to breath.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90eeQ9lup38