The amount decreed was 300 million CLP. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake caused severe damage to several stadiums in Chile, upsetting the calendar for the World Cup. On September 30, 1960, the Corporation of Development of Chile (Corfo) provided economic contributions toward the construction of the Antofagasta stadium, under the condition that work began before March 1, 1961. Mayor Santiago Gajardo handed over the land to the Santiago-based Wedeles, Balmaceda, Mathieu and Company, Ltd. on January 5, 1961. The work officially began on January 18. 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. Calvo and Bascuñan reformed the construction committee and secured government and private funding, though they'd lost the opportunity to host the 1962 World Cup. On July 9, 1962, Razmilic and Co. restarted the unfinished work. On October 8, 1964, the stadium was inaugurated before President Jorge Alessandri, Mayor Juan Floreal Recabarren and his predecessor Santiago Gajardo. Trading markets in the city closed that day at noon, with a request that private companies enable their workers to attend the event. Approximately 32,000 people came. The stadium was then the second largest in the country. The match of the event was between Unión Bellavista (local team) and Club Deportivo Universidad Católica. 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. In February 1967, a youth football championship was held, in which one of the finalists was the Iquique team. 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.