Stadium dedicated

COSTA MESA — All eyes turned to Jim Scott Sr., the man behind a famous pipe band.

The 82-year-old glided past the track, then underneath the football goal post and through the soccer goal, scoring the ultimate point.

Costa Mesa’s two high schools, Estancia and Costa Mesa, now have a football field, soccer field and track to call their own.

Jim Scott Stadium.

Beats Orange Coast College and Newport Harbor High, where the two schools have, historically, competed.

A packed home crowd, filled with students, faculty, alumni, parents, administrators and supporters stood and applauded the man in the wheelchair responsible for making Friday possible.

It was 13 years in the making. Most of the way, Scott, a long-time booster, played an instrumental role with his vision and leadership. Thanks came from all circles during the one-hour ceremony unveiling the stadium’s new name at Estancia.

Scott never moved much, or talked. His son, Jim Scott Jr., said that’s because of a stroke he suffered two years ago.

But once someone removed his sunglasses, the senior Scott’s eyes grew big.

Toward the fieldhouse, a banner with the words “Welcome to Jim Scott Stadium” dropped.

Scott Jr., a 1974 Estancia graduate, was thrilled his father was alive to see it after years of pushing the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and city officials to build a facility for Estancia and Costa Mesa.

“He’s happy. He knows where he is. He knows what happened, and I’m sure he’s relieved,” Scott Jr. said, adding that a dozen family members attended the event.

“Now we’re looking for the next season. This is not an end. This is just the beginning. We’ll bring him out to the stadium to watch the games, the track meets.”

Scott Jr. said his father will return to the stadium today. A fundraiser for the two high schools and TeWinkle and Costa Mesa middle schools starts at 7:30 a.m.

A bigger pipe band, with 30 members instead of Friday’s nine, will escort Scott Sr. into the $9.5 million state-of-the-art house he helped build with funds from Measure F, the $282-million school renovation bond voters approved in November 2005.

Each band member from the Nicholson Pipes and Drums of Westminster might have to pick up the pace.

Some friends of Scott Sr. asked Scott Jr. whether his father might test out the track on his scooter. There will be a 5K race at 8 a.m. and a 2K race at 9 a.m.

It is unlikely Scott Sr. will be able to race around since it will mark one week since his release from Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

“He had collapsed lungs,” said Scott Jr., whose father was hospitalized for 10 days. “He had two quarts of water under each lung. He couldn’t breathe. Due to the magic of Hoag [he’s out]. [The hospital] nursed him back to health.”

One person expecting Scott Sr. to be at full health when the football season starts next fall is Fran Ursini of the Newport Rib Co. restaurant.

This is the same friend who thought Scott Sr. was nuts when he first began his campaign for a stadium in 1995.

Now, Ursini wants to be a part of the inaugural football game played on the artificial FieldTurf surface at Jim Scott Stadium, which holds a capacity of 2,600.

“I haven’t retired,” said Ursini, who has been a referee for 42 years. “I wrote into the association and asked if I could referee. It will be [emotional but] when the whistle blows, it’s a game. But up until then, I’ll enjoy it.”

Scott Sr. already is.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.