After seventeen months of construction, the Newhall Community Center — a state-of-the-art, 17,000-square-foot recreational masterpiece — will open to the public on Saturday, January 21, at 10 a.m.

Located at 22421 Market Street, adjacent to the Jan Heidt Newhall Metrolink Station, the new Community Center is a landmark destination for the community to enjoy a wide array of recreational and enrichment programs.

The new Community Center offers an award-winning boxing program, ballet folklorico, homework help, a toy library, a sheriff's sub-station, outdoor basketball, a performance area, eight program rooms, a kitchen, offices and plenty of parking.

The brand-new Newhall Community Center was built by the city of Santa Clarita at a cost of $7 million. The new center replaces a rented, 7,000-square-foot facility on San Fernando Road that was too small to accommodate the growing needs of the community.

Since the city opened the original Community Center more than 10 years ago, membership has grown to more than 2,000 last year. The center has produced several boxing champions, including the professional, top-ten-ranked pro boxer, Juan Ruiz Jr., who learned how to box at the city's Community Center.

The Community Center's Ballet Folklorico program has won four national championships and offers a quality program for beginners and advanced dancers.

The city is most proud of the Amistad Award for best organization in Santa Clarita in service of the Latino community, awarded by the Hispanic Business Committee in 1995.

Every year, volunteers donate hundreds of hours teaching karate, tutoring, coaching and fund-raising to help the center. This community spirit benefits not only the young people who enjoy the activities, but also our entire community by providing high quality, worthwhile activities for youth who might otherwise turn to drugs, gangs and crime.

I am very proud of our Community Center staff members, who continually go "above and beyond" to provide not only the best programming but also to mentor the hundreds of children who visit the center each day. The Community Center supervisor is Hope Horner, who was also named the city of Santa Clarita's Employee of the Year for 2005. Center coordinators include Yolanda Calderon, Lesley Mendez and clerk typist Carmen Garcia-Hoffman. Rounding out the staff are Gilbert Amaro, the boxing program coordinator, and Luz Medina, the Ballet Folklorico instructor.

Our city staff was successful in completing this project on time and on budget. I want to congratulate James Tong, Tara Concepcion and Robert Newman in the Public Works Department, as well as Rick Gould, Adele Macpherson and Elena Galvez in the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, for their tireless effort.

I encourage you to stop by the new Community Center and check out the new facility and many programs offered for the community. You will be glad you did.