Development and construction A city stadium was considered in 1955, The amount decreed was 300 million
CLP. However, due to financial problems, construction was postponed and the committee responsible was dissolved. Work resumed on July 3, 1961, with the demolition of the riding club's facilities. On October 12, a game was played between the teams of the city of Asociación de Fútbol de Antofagasta and Chuquicamata, which was attended by approximately 16,000 spectators. The result of the match was 4–2 for Antofagasta, the coach of the team of Antofagasta was
Luis Santibañez Diaz. On July 7, 1965, the construction committee was dissolved and another association formed to complete the lighting of the stadium. Chile Exploration Company donated US$100,000 to finance this project. On July 22, 1973, the highest ever attendance was recorded, when 32,663 people watched the
Primera Division match between
Antofagasta and
Colo-Colo. In October 1987, the stadium was a host for the
1987 FIFA World Youth Championship, where the national teams of
West Germany,
Bulgaria,
United States and
Saudi Arabia, all of Group D, played 6 games. The stadium also hosted the quarter-final match between West Germany and
Scotland. In 1996, the six-lane athletic track was installed. In 2001, an audit was carried out which established the embezzlement of funds and corruption of a public instrument by a municipal official. It was reported that Mayor Pedro Araya filed a federal court complaint regarding this event. On September 20, 2013, the final of the National Children's Baseball tournament was played at the stadium's baseball field, in which Antofagasta and Iquique met. In April 2014, a friendly match was proposed between the national teams of Chile and Peru, for which the mayor of Antofagasta promised to improve the state of the field. The manager of Peru's team decided not to train in the stadium, alluding to security problems and a need to practice without spectators. The match was held on April 28, resulting in a tie, with an attendance of 32,000. In 2005, a friendly match was held between the teams of River Plate U-23 and the Chilean U-20 team, with the aim of preparing the national team for the World Cup in Holland. In 2006,
Club de Deportes Antofagasta (CDA) acquired 650 seats from Brazil, with an investment of 8,000,000 CLP, installed in the stadium's preferred sector, for the anniversary of the city and the return to Premiere A series football. In addition to these improvements, the Regional Intendant asked that the stadium be provided with a synthetic track, in order to improve athletic practices. The remodeling of the athletic track increased the number of lanes from 6 to 8, using the synthetic material Repugol AF. It cost 816.212.000 CLP, financed by the Municipality of Antofagasta, the regional council and Chiledeportes (a national program to promote sport activities). Chiledeportes promised a US$3 million investment to five Chilean stadiums, including that of Antofagasta, for the
2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. The bathrooms were closed by the Ministry of Health of Antofagasta due to the low quality of hygiene.
Remodeling and renaming On January 22, 2009, the stadium was among 15 venues chosen for a remodeling in the second phase of the national program Red de Estadios Bicentenario (Bicentennial Stadium Network) and was installed the synthetic grass on the field 5. The opening match for this setting was between Club de Deportes Antofagasta and Municipal Mejillones on U-15 category, the result of the match was 1-0, won Antofagasta. Minera Escondida, the first private company to invest in the program, committed US$8.8 million for the remodeling of the stadium. This was added to contributions of the regional government, Chiledeportes and Ministry of Public Works. The remodel would include a modern electronic scoreboard, perimeter lighting, dressing rooms, massage rooms, a preparatory area for referees, and parking and recreation areas. An agreement between Minera Escondida and the respective public organizations was to open bidding in August, with works to begin in November 2010. Former mayor Pedro Araya and a group from the sports community sought to rename the stadium "Calvo Bascuñan", in tribute to the promoters of its original construction. The municipality opened a process to consider this and other suggestions from the citizens. Due to the
2010 Chile earthquake which occurred on February 27, the government reallocated the committed money for the stadium to the disaster area, to the annoyance of former-mayor Marcela Hernando. On June 2, the former mayor received a commitment from the National Sports Institute, which would deliver 62.5% of their promised funding in 2011 and 32.5% in 2012. The former Secretary of Sports, Gabriel Ruiz-table, visited the stadium with the mayor, assuring that there would be resources for the remodeling so that the venue could be used for other events in addition to football matches. Bidding proposals were opened on June 7, 2010. The only presentation was from the company Salfa SA, which proposed either following the established model or its own draft, either of which exceeded the established budget for the project. On June 21, the economic proposal was opened, and a second call for tenders was made on November 20. In October the Municipality of Antofagasta asked for support from the Chilean National Football Association (ANFP) with the purpose of getting more financial resources to make the remodelation. This action results in an agreement between the association and the municipality. Interest was expressed by 21 companies, and at that time it was expected that work could begin in May 2012. In 2011, the opening for technical proposals was presented. It was stipulated that the opening period would be in July. The winning proposal was from Valle & Cornejo Arquitectos, with contributions of L2C and architect Nicolás Lipthay. On July 28, the works were contracted to the construction company Navarrate Díaz Cumsille and Ingeniería y Construcciones Serinco Ltd., and the main coliseum was closed for a projected term of 360 days. In July 2011, was begun makes the removal of tons of debris to begin the realization of the major works to renovate the stadium. In December 2011, the construction suffered a delay of two months due to problems with the foundations of roof supports. There were additional delays in October 2012 regarding the seating. In December 2012, Antofagasta was officially declared as one of the cities to host the
2015 Copa América. On March 20, 2013, a private inauguration ceremony was held. Former-president Sebastián Piñera cut the tape as part of the protocol. The public ceremony began with a performance of the city's philharmonic orchestra, followed by a match between CDA and América de Cali. The musical group Garras de Amor performed prior to the party of Colo-Colo and Universidad Católica. The inauguration was concluded by the percussion of the team of América de Cali, which was delayed in arriving to the city.
2013–present In November 2014, the stadium was officially declared a host for the Copa America 2015 tournament. Through a draw, Jamaica, Paraguay and Uruguay would compete in the stadium. In December the director of the event confirmed to Antofagasta that its stadium was well-liked by the Jamaica National Team, which was competing in the Copa America for the first time. On January 27, eight lighting towers and generators were installed for night events on additional courts. ==International events==