El Campín was inaugurated on August 10, 1938 at 57th Street with 30, having started its construction in 1935 on the initiative of the mayor of Bogotá, Jorge Eliecer Gaitán. The structure was handled by the German engineer Frederick Leder Müller. The stadium was designed to hold 10,000 spectators. The opening match was held in the 1938 Bolivarian Games, facing the Colombia national football team and the Ecuador national football team, with a 2–1 defeat for the local team.