Construction has started on a new stadium at Capistrano Valley High that is expected to be ready by next spring.
The $21.5 million project will replace the school’s old stadium — already demolished — with a modern athletic facility featuring new bleachers, a press box with elevator access, updated concession and ticket booths, team rooms and a weight room.
The stadium will also feature a newly resurfaced and striped track, improved fencing and a state-of-the-art sound system.
The project, celebrated with a ground-breaking event on Wednesday, May 28, covers approximately 6 acres on the northwestern side of the 42-acre campus at 26301 Via Escolar in Mission Viejo. Its start prompted the move of this year’s Capistrano Valley High graduation on June 5 to the Saddleback College stadium.
Bleacher capacity will increase from 1,886 people to 2,750 to accommodate larger crowds for football games, future graduation ceremonies and band competitions. The home-side bleachers, on the south side of the stadium, will grow from 1,312 seats to 2,000 and include a new press box. The visitor bleachers, on the north side, will increase from 574 to 750 seats.
According to Capistrano Unified School District spokesperson Ryan Burris, the stadium’s construction is funded through a combination of state matching funds and remaining city of Mission Viejo redevelopment funds. The district did not seek new bonds for this project.
In October 2022, the school board approved putting about $7.1 million in expected state reimbursement money toward the Capistrano Valley stadium. That money was linked to earlier construction projects at Aliso Niguel High School and Newhart Middle School, which were paid for using leftover funds from an old school financing district and the now-defunct Mission Viejo Redevelopment Agency.
The financing district — known as CFD 87-1 — was created in 1987 to help build schools in parts of Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo. Although homeowners stopped paying into it in 2016 after the bonds were paid off early, around $11 million was still left over for school facilities.
Back in 2017, district officials met with the cities of Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo and agreed to use that leftover money for science and tech buildings at Aliso Niguel and Newhart. They also agreed that any state reimbursements from those projects would later help pay for upgrades at Capistrano Valley High, including the new stadium.
Some of the money for the stadium is also coming from old redevelopment funds that were handed over to the city after the state shut down redevelopment agencies in 2012.
Burris said work to install underground utilities is already underway. Construction began in February and the stadium is slated for completion by May 2026.