Countdown begins for Estancia High School hall of fame after district OKs fundraising

Estancia High School is getting a hall of fame.

The Westside Costa Mesa campus got unanimous approval Tuesday from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board of trustees to begin fundraising for the project, which is planned for a busy but uninspired corner of the campus between the gym and old pool deck.

The hall of fame — or “heritage hall,” as Principal Michael Halt also called it — will feature memorabilia and artifacts from each decade of the school’s history. Estancia graduated its first crop of seniors in 1967.

Custom cabinets will showcase alumni achievements through the years. The cabinets will be outdoors but covered.

“That’s one of the most transited corridors on the campus,” Halt said. “If you’ve walked that corridor, you know it’s also one of the bleakest.”

A budget for the hall of fame is to be determined, but all funding will come through the work of a nonprofit committee and private donor support.

Ara Zareczny, Newport-Mesa’s director of facilities development, said district staff and hall of fame supporters have been outlining the project for more than a year and a half.

The hall of fame is part of extensive campuswide renovations and additions, including a $32-million theater complex and a $9-million aquatics center. The L-shaped pool that is being replaced, adjoining the planned hall of fame, will be filled in and repurposed as a courtyard.

Estancia will be the second Newport-Mesa high school to have a hall of fame, joining Newport Harbor.

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