Chilean Primera División football club Universidad Católica (UC) has announced that its final match at the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo will take place on August 20, with the venue set to make way for a new stadium.
UC will face Audax Italiano in the Copa Chile a week on Saturday and the fixture will mark the team’s final game at a venue it has called home for the past 34 years.
The team said the ‘farewell’ to the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo will mark the start of a process to build the most modern and sustainable stadium in the country. A range of match-day activations will be held to mark the occasion.
UC president Juan Tagle said: “We want to say goodbye to San Carlos with a day that will be remembered by all the fans of Universidad Católica and that is at the level of what was our home for more than 30 years. For this, we have designed a day full of emotions, surprises and tributes that will summarise how important our stadium was for the growth of the institution.”
The stadium opened in 1988 and has a capacity of 14,000. The new stadium will seat 20,000 fans and will include covered two-tiered stands, new service areas and “high standards” of comfort and safety.
Juan Pablo Pareja, general manager of UC, said: “Starting in September, work will begin to shape our new stadium. This is the beginning of a process that will last approximately 18 months and that will continue to challenge us, since we must do it efficiently and minimise the impact on neighbours and the community.”
In February, UC agreed a naming-rights deal with telecommunications company Claro to aid the transformation of the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo.
Spanish firm IDOM has been engaged to design the new-look stadium, which once redeveloped will include a new roof and more corporate boxes and VIP areas in an effort to create a modern, multi-purpose venue.
Image: Carlos Figueroa-Rojas/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
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