For years, Long Beach could only imagine what a new Veterans Memorial Stadium might look like—now, that vision is finally becoming a reality.
Long Beach City College Dean of Athletics Randy Totorp gave The562 exclusive access to the details and renderings of the college’s $250 million plan to reconstruct the historic stadium that has stood in the city since 1950.
The site plan includes major renovations to the stadium with the addition of surrounding facilities, but the college plans to keep much of the old look alive in the stadium itself. The renderings preserve the familiar look of Vets’ iconic bleachers and press box, with concrete from the demolition also set to be reused in construction of the new stadium.
“I’ve been a part of LBCC for 33 years, and I understand the need to acknowledge and honor something that’s stood there for so long,” Totorp said. “A lot of people think of it for football, but it’s not just about that—it was a community center coming out of World War II. It’s going to be new with so many additions that benefit us from a functional level, but I still wanted that nostalgic view to honor the past.”
The new stadium will extend into what is currently the west side of the parking lot, moving the main concourse farther toward Faculty Ave. near the Mercedes-Benz dealership. The added square footage on the east side of the field will make way for an opposing team locker room, along with a smaller section of bleachers for visiting fans.
Another chunk of the current parking lot will be cut into on the south side, where the college is adding state-of-the-art track and field facilities, including a full jumping area and throwers’ park. According to Totorp, the college hosted the CIF Commissioner during the rendering process to ensure the new track facilities would meet the standards needed to potentially host the high school state track and field championships.
The opposite north side of the stadium will feature a new gymnasium and kinesiology facility alongside a new “Veterans Green,” a plaza designed to honor the history of the existing stadium. The plaza will sit alongside a food garden with concessions and restrooms, while also serving as a gathering space outside a new secondary entrance on the northeast side of the stadium.
That new entrance will provide another access point in addition to the main entrance gate on the south side of the home bleachers. It will also feed into a short walkway to the college’s existing parking structure at E. Lew Davis St. and Clark Ave., helping offset the parking spaces that will be lost from the main lot as part of the new stadium.
The majority of the stadium itself will see relatively light changes during reconstruction, leaving the new stadium reminiscent of the one that stands today. A few additions include a smaller section of bleachers and visiting locker room on the east side, along with a new indoor/outdoor suite with a capacity of approximately 100 people. The suite will overlook the field while also featuring a window on the north side looking into the new gymnasium.
The new gym will seat 2,500 spectators with a “U” layout of bleachers on three of the four sides of the gym. The gymnasium complex will also feature a brand-new “Hall of Champions” to recognize former student-athletes, coaches and championship teams throughout the college’s long history.
Much of the site plan was constructed with Veterans Memorial Stadium’s long history of community and sporting events in mind, according to Totorp. Outside of the LBCC football team, Vets has been home to the Long Beach Poly football team for 75 years and has hosted major sporting events at the high school level, including the first nationally televised high school football game in 2001 along with plenty of other championship games.
The stadium has also long been home to Long Beach Unified School District graduation ceremonies, bringing thousands of students, family members and friends to the stadium at the end of every school year. Totorp mentioned that the ceremonies were another small detail taken into consideration while rendering the new facility, keeping the convenience and parking needs of thousands of graduation attendees in mind.
“We put so much intentional thought into this facility,” Totorp said. “We really geek out on the things that people won’t even notice. The way an athletic complex functions should matter as much as how it looks. We took into consideration everything from the athletes’ day-to-day lives and the events that happen here outside of our football games to the experience fans coming here to park and get to where they need to go in the stadium.”
The new stadium is anticipated to be finished by mid-2029, but Totorp acknowledged that things can change with a project of this size. Until then, Long Beach Poly’s football team is set to play one final game at Vets next Friday before moving its home games to Cabrillo High School. LBCC’s football team is set to remain at Clark Field following its final farewell game at Vets against Riverside on Aug. 29.
Renderings of the planned complex were provided by Long Beach City College.
