‘Making it new again’

Newport Beach resident Don Dickey, born in 1930 just a few blocks from Newport Pier, remembers watching horses haul nets full of fish up onto the sand as a child.

Although the pier itself has been torn down and rebuilt a dozen times, not much has changed in the area until city officials broke ground at the base of the pier Monday on what is believed to be the largest public art project in the city’s 102-year history.

“I don’t think this area will ever get old,” said Dickey, who came to the groundbreaking ceremony Monday along with many other longtime Newport residents. “Young people keep making it new again. The city has grown in all directions from here.”

The McFadden Square Centennial Legacy Project will commemorate the city’s centennial in 2006 with a bronze sculpture and a circular walking path marked with significant dates from the city’s history.

Newport native Albert Irwin, who was born in 1918, said he was happy to see the city build a monument to document the history of the area.

“It makes me proud to see this,” he said after the ceremony.

Irwin’s grandfather’s job was to tie up boats to the old wharf years ago. His father built the old Irwin building that still stands near the pier at West Oceanfront and 22nd Street in 1924.

“This area represents the growth of Newport Beach — this is the spot where Newport Beach originated,” Mayor Ed Selich said before the groundbreaking ceremony. “It’s a symbol of the growth of our city.”

The spot for the memorial was chosen because it marks the place where the McFadden brothers began shipping from Newport Beach and developed McFadden’s Wharf over a century ago. The project has been in the works since 2006, when it was conceived to mark the city’s centennial anniversary that year.

John McFadden, a descendant of Newport pioneers James and Robert McFadden, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony, said he grew up hearing stories about his family’s role in the development of Newport Beach.

“It’s wonderful to be here today and see all the work that has gone into this, and I’m honored to play a part in the history,” McFadden said.

In 1875, James and Robert McFadden purchased the area, known then as Newport Landing, which they used to support their commercial shipping business.

Clipper ships used to drop loads of lumber into the breaking waves more than 100 years ago, not far from where the new monument will stand, McFadden said.

“It was quite treacherous, and they would literally lose people in the surf,” he said.

The brothers eventually built McFadden Wharf where Newport Pier sits today.

Organizers have raised about $425,000 from more than 460 donors for the monument — and hope to raise about $75,000 more to complete the project.

The square is slated for completion by the end of June.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.