A groundbreaking event

COSTA MESA — Hundreds gathered Thursday morning to cheer on the groundbreaking of a stadium at Estancia High School.

At a ceremony held on Estancia’s football practice field, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard, school board members and others wore hardhats and dug gold-painted shovels into a sandbox on the 50-yard line. The groundbreaking represented the first project of Measure F, the $282-million bond that voters approved in 2005.

Athletes from Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools, many clad in their uniforms, stood around the podium during the ceremony. The Estancia stadium, expected to be completed next spring, will provide a long-awaited home field for football, soccer, track and other sports.

“Today is a very special day, one that has been in the making for more than a decade,” Estancia Principal Phil D’Agostino said. “It is with pride and a tremendous sense of accomplishment that we participate in this groundbreaking.”

D’Agostino, Mansoor, Hubbard, former Supt. Robert Barbot and Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley were among those who addressed Thursday’s onlookers at the groundbreaking. Jim Scott, the former Estancia parent who started the campaign for a Costa Mesa stadium 11 years ago, sat in a wheelchair on the sidelines. He recently had a stroke. When it came time for the groundbreaking, his family members helped him to grip a shovel.

Scott was one of the founding members of Costa Mesa United, a nonprofit fundraising group that sought to garner funds for the Estancia stadium and an Olympic-sized swimming pool at Costa Mesa High School. The group raised around $4 million in cash and pledges before Measure F adopted both projects.

A number of Costa Mesa United members — including Scott, Foley, Gordon Bowley and school board member David Brooks — joined the group wielding shovels at Estancia. Brooks reminded the audience of the long and sometimes rocky road his group had taken.

“It’s the end of the beginning,” he said. “We’ve been beginning for 11 years.”

Costa Mesa High football player Brian Waldron said he looked forward to having a field close by.

“It’s going to be a lot easier to just drive down the street,” said Brian, 14, a freshman.

Estancia player Matt Redding, who just finished his last football season, found the moment more bittersweet.

“It’s a good feeling,” Redding said. “Even though it’s my senior year, I’m happy for the younger guys.”