Local athlete Estuardo Meléndez Macchiavello was the first to ask for the construction of a stadium in
Trujillo to President
Manuel Prado y Ugarteche. The construction of the stadium took two years between 13 May 1944 and July 1946 which was at first known as Estadio Modelo de Trujillo. It was inaugurated under the presidency of
José Luis Bustamante y Rivero. The inauguration ceremony happened on 12 October 1946 in presence of then Vice-president
José Gálvez Barrenechea, Zoila María de la Victoria, and the mother of political leader
Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, Rosa Francisca de Paula de la Torre. The first football match played at the stadium was between Deportivo Trujillo and Sport Tigre. The stadium hosted all of the Group B matches during the
1995 South American Under-17 Football Championship. Three of the four stands, north, south, and west, where rebuilt for the
2004 Copa America. Luxury sitting, broadcasting boxes, renovated changing rooms, and an electronic scoreboard were also installed. This brought the stadium capacity to approximately 20,000. The next year, the natural grass pitch was replaced for turf for the
2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship. The pitch would not return to natural grass until 2013. ==2004 Copa América==