State officials broke ground Thursday at Farrington High School for the first of many phases of renovations that the school’s principal described as "critically needed" and "a dream come true for many."

"One, two, three, here’s history!" 10th-grade Vice Principal Ronald Oyama called out just before a group of school administrators and legislators punctured a short pile of freshly laid dirt on the lawn.

The first phase of work at the aging, 26-acre campus is expected to take roughly a year and cost about $2.5 million.

It will focus on the 14-classroom "A" wing of the school, transforming it into a "law and justice" learning community complete with forensics lab, faculty meeting room, a counseling area so staff can meet with students and classrooms with moveable dividers so the space can be expanded, Principal Alfredo Carganilla said.

The estimated $100 million overall project, which could take 10 or more years to complete, will bring the state’s second-largest high school — and one of its most run-down — up to speed with modern technology.

When the project is completed, Farrington will have a collegelike teaching atmosphere in which students are taught and grouped by occupational interest, Carganilla said.

State funding to cover the first phase has been allocated, but the rest of the $100 million has yet to be secured.

At the groundbreaking, state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and Rep. Joey Manahan assured the crowd that the project is a priority.

"F-H-S, G-O-V, Farrington Governors, rah-rah-rah!" Kim, a Farrington graduate, shouted when she took the podium.

"Farrington just brings back so many memories for all of us," she said. "You cannot help but root for Farrington … so here we are, finally getting the money and getting all the vision together."

Manahan said he hopes Farrington’s new design will serve as a model for schools throughout Hawaii and that the project is not just an investment for kids in Kalihi, but for the state as a whole.

Rather than chip away at the school’s $40 million repair backlog or demolish the 75-year-old school and build a new one, school officials have decided on a complete overhaul.

Most of the current buildings and facilities will remain standing. About a third of the 250,000 square feet of proposed physical improvements will be new construction, which includes a parking structure and fitness and student centers.

Farrington has not had any major renovations in decades — and it shows.

At Thursday’s ceremony, former Principal Catherine Payne remembered Farrington as "grim" back in 1995, when she took a tour of the school before becoming principal. She said she told the students then, "’The buildings you’re asked to learn in are not worthy of you.’"

Senior class Council Treasurer Drazen Rafael said he is excited that future generations will live out his dream, and that he realized the renovation is not about him, but about the school.

"I just can’t wait for the future," he said. "When they said that they were going to do a groundbreaking, I was like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait!’"

Rafael also said he hopes a revamped, cutting-edge campus will motivate students to show more pride and respect for their school, that they might become more involved and avoid spraying graffiti and fighting in the new space.