Restoring a piece of artillery history

Slowly and delicately, a crane lifted the M1902U.S. Armyfield gun off its grassy resting place in Costa Mesa on Monday morning.

The artillery piece had been in front of the Costa Mesa Police Department substation on West 18th Street for some 40 years, but now, for the next six to eight weeks, it will be getting restored by 16-year-old Brenden Fettis, an aspiring Eagle Scout and son of a Costa Mesa police officer.

Brenden chose the restoration as his Eagle Scout project and will get help from other Boy Scouts.

Local metal and woodworkers have offered him their shops and tools for free, and others are offering to help financially.

— Joseph Serna

Twitter: @JosephSerna