Walter Lavallejas Sarrie’s goat He is an unknown name to many and in reality few know the fundamental role this Uruguayan has played in the history of Peruvian football. Lavallejas Sarries, an architect by trade, was the man who designed the Alianza Lima and Universitario de Deportes stadiums. As you read, the professional “charrúa” was responsible for planning the construction of the sports facilities for the teams with the longest tradition in domestic football.
Who was Walter Lavallejas Sarries?
Lavallejas Sarriés was born on April 19, 1927 in Uruguay. In 1961, at the age of 34, he received a scholarship for postgraduate studies in business administration at the University of Getulio Vargas in Brazil. By this time he already had the title of Architect obtained in his country of origin.
In Brazil, the Uruguayan decided to specialize in sports and commercial infrastructure. Thus it became part of Brasilar, a company responsible for the construction of the Beira Rio stadium in Porto Alegre. This was his first experience of building a sports arena.
Sarriés was responsible for preparing the construction plan for the stadium, from design to execution budget. This included the construction and commercialization of boxes that would allow the works to be self-funded. This is how the Uruguayan came into contact with Peru. From here they went to Brazil in search of specialists to entrust Brasiliar with the construction of the Lima Alliance Stadium.
Alejandro Villanueva Stadium. Photo: Alianza Lima
With this offer, the aforementioned architect decided to move to Peru with his family. After completing the work, Sarriés left Brasiliar and founded his own “Progreso International”. From then on he was involved in the construction and remodeling of other sports giants such as the Monumental de Guayaquil, George Capwell (also from Guayaquil), Hernando Siles de La Paz and the Azteca Stadium.
The working method of Progreso International is to join with professionals from each city and carry out together the construction of the sports scene. So it was the suggestion of University of Sports to build the monumental stadium. To carry out this project, Sarriés has teamed up with the construction company Gremco.
The Monumental of Lima is one of the last projects that Sarriés managed with his company. Unfortunately, the architect of two of Peru’s most important sports venues passed away on February 17, 2015 in Montevideo at the age of 87.
Construction of the Alejandro Villanueva
Its first name was Estadio Alianza Lima until 2000 when it was decided to change its name to Alejandro Villanueva. Its construction was announced on April 11, 1965 thanks to the fact that the then President Manuel Odría donated the land on which to build it.
In May 1969 the first phase of the project began and five years later it was inaugurated with a friendly tournament called Señor de los Milagros. The sports arena La Victoria – with a capacity for 55,000 spectators – was opened to the public on December 27, 1974.
How was the Monumental Stadium built?
Monumental Stadium of Ate. Photo: Sports University
Located in Block 77 of Avenida Javier Prado Este, the Monumental Stadium was inaugurated on July 2, 2000. The first stone was laid on January 16, 1991 and the land on which it was built was purchased on October 18. 1994. It is the second largest stadium in South America.
It has a capacity of 80,093 spectators, with 58,577 in the four stands and 21,516 in the boxes. In 2015 it was named one of the 100 best stadiums in the world by the English magazine FourFourTwo (44th place); while Diario As ranked it among the 10 Mythic Stadiums in South America in 2017. On November 23, 2019, it was the scene of the first singles final of the Copa Libertadores de America.