San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
SAYING GOODBYE TO SAN DIEGO STADIUM
Mission Valley stadium provided half a century of entertainment, millions and millions of memories
Beginning today for eight consecutive days, the U-T Sports section will cover the legacy of San Diego Stadium as the Mission Valley monolith is demolished. Today, U-T sportswriter Kirk Kenney takes us back to the 1965 voter approval that started it all: a half-century of football, baseball, soccer and RV shows. And of course, tailgating.
The biggest story in San Diego history was trusted to a 12-year-old.
It was election night in 1965 and one of the local television stations didn’t show up at the County Operations Center, so the spot was given to Robert Kenneth Brown, a seventh-grader at Roosevelt Junior High.
Brown, who lived at 1826 Lincoln Ave. (yes, they printed people’s addresses in news stories back in the day), was described as the “owner, operator, announcer, political and public affairs reporter for radio station KFRB.” The boy estimated his station had a broadcast radius of two miles from the transmitter located at his home.
Brown’s equipment was set up adjacent to the door election officials came through to provide the media with updates throughout the evening.
Each bulletin was handed first to Brown, who “rushed to the microphone and scooped the world with his reports.”
His biggest announcement of the evening: Proposition
1 overwhelmingly passed with 72 percent of the vote, paving the way for San Diego’s 50,000-seat multipurpose stadium in Mission Valley.
Less than two years later — on Aug. 20, 1967 — the Chargers christened San Diego Stadium in an exhibition game against the Detroit Lions.
Over the next half century, the stadium hosted everything from professional, college and high school football to minor league and major league baseball games. From international soccer matches to off-road races. From rock concerts to revival meetings.
In an emergency, the stadium served as a shelter for residents forced by fire from their homes.
Outside its walls, in the largest parking lot in North America, there was road racing, RV shows and swap meets. And tailgating.
Highlights included three Super Bowls, two World Series, two MLB Allstar Games and a college football national championship among the more than 10,000 other events that provided millions upon millions of memories. The stadium hosted more than 100 million spectators during its 54-year history.
The 166-acre Mission Valley site was officially sold in