[font=Verdana]Irvine[/font][font=Verdana], CA. has issued demolition permits for the runways, taxiways and aircraft parking aprons at the old [/font][font=Verdana]El Toro[/font][font=Verdana] base.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Chopping up the runways will be a symbolic end to the decade-long, $100 million fight over the future of the base. Backers of a commercial airport eventually lost to proponents of the [/font][font=Verdana]Great[/font][font=Verdana]Park[/font][font=Verdana], the planned mix of wilderness areas, athletic fields, museums, farms, schools shops and housing.[/font]

[font=Verdana]Demolition is expected to begin within 30 days. Recycled Materials Co. of [/font][font=Verdana]Denver[/font][font=Verdana], [/font][font=Verdana]Colorado[/font][font=Verdana] will be breaking up and grinding the estimated four million tons of concrete at the base. The company says it likely will take at least two years to pull up all the old concrete and four years to process and reuse it. Plans call for all the ground-up concrete to be reused at the [/font][font=Verdana]Great[/font][font=Verdana]Park[/font][font=Verdana] for roadbeds, building pads, walkways, stream banks and other related applications. Some of it also will be used as