EDITORIAL:

It took 13 years, $9.5 million and an incalculable amount of persistence by Jim Scott.

Last week, we saw that persistence pay off with the dedication of Jim Scott Stadium, a state-of-the-art athletic facility where Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools will compete in football, track and soccer.

The stadium features artificial turf, an all-weather track, a press box and a snack bar.

It might be the finest stadium in Orange County.

Generations of Estancia and Costa Mesa graduates — and their parents — know what this means. Take Bruce Garlich, whose son graduated from Estancia in 1978.

“You never really felt like you were ever playing a home game,” he said. “You always felt like a guest on someone else’s field.”

Indeed, the schools played their “home” games at Orange Coast College and Newport Harbor High. And don’t ask about graduations.

But a new day has dawned. In June, graduates will stroll across the field in caps and gowns, truly at home.

And come fall, football players will knock skulls and race for the end zone on their very own gridiron.

We can thank, first and foremost, Jim Scott. The 82-year-old first approached Costa Mesa city officials 13 years ago.

Jim Scott Jr., a 1974 Estancia graduate, was thrilled his father, a longtime booster, was alive to see the dedication 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.”

We couldn’t have said it any better.