In 1921, the English residents of Peru that owned the stadium renovated and renamed the stadium from Estadio Guadalupe to Stadium Nacional and donated it to the Peruvian government. It had small wooden stands that were later donated to the Estadio Teodoro Lolo Fernandez when it was demolished to make way for the new stadium which would host the 1953 South American Championship. In the 1950s, Miguel Dasso and the Peruvian President General Manuel A. Odria funded the project for the construction of the new stadium. The new stadium was planned to have capacity of 53,000 and have it entirely made out of cement. The northern and southern stands would have a capacity of 15,000 each while the eastern and western stands would have three levels. On 27 October 1952, the new Estadio Nacional was inaugurated with many comfortable features such as luxury boxes and elevators in one of the stands. The inauguration ceremony started early at 10:00 AM and lasted through the night. The ceremony included an award ceremony for many outstanding athletes including Teodoro Fernández, Alejandro Villanueva, Jorge Alcalde, Olympic gold medalist Edwin Vásquez and Pan American gold medalists Julia Sánchez and Gerardo Salazar. The inaugurating football match was played between players of the Peru national football team that formed two teams that played in the evening under the new illumination system.