Aztec Bowl (stadium)


Aztec Bowl was a football stadium on the San Diego State University campus in San Diego, California.

History

Aztec Bowl hosted the San Diego State University Aztecs football team until they moved to Qualcomm Stadium in 1967. The stadium held 12,592 people at its peak and cost $500,000 to build. It was dedicated on October 3, 1936 before 7,500 people, after being completed earlier that year.
The stadium was initially supposed to be expanded to 45,000 seats but was expanded only once, to 5,000 seats in 1948.

Current use

Currently Viejas Arena, the school's basketball arena, sits on the site of the stadium.

National Register of Historic Places

Aztec Bowl is listed on the National Register of Historic Places: The old concrete bleachers of the football stadium were not demolished when the new arena was built. John F. Kennedy, then the President of the United States of America, gave the graduation commencement address at San Diego State University on June 6, 1963.
In commemoration, the arena was built on top of the steps from which people listened to President Kennedy. The bleachers can be clearly seen from the arena's parking lot on the outside and in the storage areas under the arena seats on the inside of the arena.
There has been a request to remove the stadium from the National Register of Historic Places.