The Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero is a football stadium, also used for athletics, concerts, and rugby sevens, in Santiago de Cali, Colombia which is named to honor the poet Pascual Guerrero. The stadium and the sports complex that surrounds it are one of the finest and most modern sports complexes in Latin America, and led to references of Cali as the "Sports Capital of America".
The "Pascual", as Cali's inhabitants usually call the stadium, replaced the now defunct Estadio Galilea which was located in the Versailles neighbourhood, where the first national athletics competition was held in 1928. The Pascual is still an important venue for domestic and international sporting events.
With renovations made for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia and additional suits and sky boxes the stadium's capacity was reduced to 35,405 people. It is currently the home of América de Cali, Atlético, and Boca Juniors de Cali and was the home of Deportivo Cali until 2015 when they moved permanently into their new stadium.
History
In 1935, the poet Pascual Guerrero asked the Valle del Cauca Department government to build a stadium on the grounds he offered. On 20 July 1937, construction was completed, and the facility opened with the name "Estadio Departamental". President Alfonso López Pumarejo was present when the stadium was inaugurated with a quadrangular tournament between the countries of Argentina, Cuba, Mexico and Colombia. The opening of the stadium coincided with celebrations to mark the fourth centenary of the founding of Cali. Subsequently, on November 4, 1957, the government of the Valle del Cauca ceded to the Universidad del Valle the lands that comprise the entire sports complex, a gift ratified by the Ministry of Government.
In 1948 the first game of professional football was played at the stadium, and in 1954 the stadium hosted the seventh edition of the National Games of Colombia. It was remodeled and expanded, with Olympic swimming pools built, and consequently renamed "San Fernando Sports Complex".
With the appointment of Cali as host of the 1971 Pan American Games, in 1967 the stadium was restructured and adapted to Olympic standards of the time, and a 8-lane track developed in synthetic tartan, pit and spaces for shot put and hammer, long jump and pole vault were built. The capacity was expanded to accommodate 45,000 spectators, and floodlights and an electronic bulletin board were added. With the reform, the Sports Unit of San Fernando that was built for the 1954 National Games, became part of the Pan American Sports Unit that hosted the sixth Pan American Games.
On the occasion of the 1995 Pacific Ocean Games some physical renovations were approved, including its Synthetic Tartan track, which was replaced in its entirety according to the requirements for competitions to be held in 1995.
Due to the deterioration of the north grandstand of the stadium it was closed for several years until its remodeling began in 1999. In 2000 further renovations were approved at its facilities, making special emphasis on the correction of structural and locational problems as well as a complete replacement of the grass playing surface and drainage, ahead of the 2001 Copa América.
In 2005, due to the 43rd edition of the South American Championships in Athletics, the synthetic track was repaired in several sections, this time using a material approved by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) named Sport Flex. The stadium's tracks, fields, and the nearby sports complex underwent further renovations since October 2006 ahead of the 2008 National Games, with a large-scale renovation work that saw the construction of boxes and VIP areas in the western grandstand and underground parking in the southern stand, the replacement of the former electronic board for a new screen, the installation of seats throughout the stadium, as well as a new roof covering all grandstands of the stadium and consisting of a series of Calatrava trusses supporting a membrane or fabric structure being performed in preparation of the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The works began in the southern grandstand and lasted 16 months. Due to the new seating, stadium capacity was decreased to 35,405-seated stadium spectators.