With officials and community members gathered to celebrate Santa Maria’s newest community center, Brian Masatani said Monday’s historic moment marked much more than the opening of a new building.

“It represents the continuation of a legacy that began more than 100 years ago in Guadalupe and throughout the Santa Maria Valley,” said Masatani, a board member for the Santa Maria Japanese Community Center.

The sacrifice, perseverance and commitment of the area’s early Japanese immigrants provided the foundation for Monday’s celebration, he added.

“As we honor our past and celebrate today, we look forward to our future. We are reminded that the center belongs not only to our community today but also to the generations that will follow,” Masatani said.

Mayor Alice Patino wielded the oversized scissors as the barn-themed building’s doors slid open Monday morning. Members of the Japanese community and city leaders gathered around her for the ribbon-cutting. 

The new center sits just west of the historic Smith-Enos house at the Enos Ranch development between College Drive and Bradley Road. 

Officials gathered in September 2023 for a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction. 

Architects Tom Martinez and Randall Araki designed the 10,000-square-foot center as a bigger version of the barn that once sat on the Enos-Smith house property.

“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Japanese Community Center, a place where culture, education, friendship and tradition can be shared for generations to come,” said Dennis Smitherman, Recreation and Parks manager for the city.

The center is dedicated to the first-generation immigrants, or Issei, and second-generation, or Nissei, “whose strength, perseverance and contributions helped shape the Santa Maria Valley,” Smitherman said. 

The mayor noted the center was “a long time coming.”

“The Japanese Community Center will serve as a place where traditions can be shared, where families, where neighbors can gather and where future generations can learn about celebrating the contributions of the Japanese community here in Santa Maria and the Central Coast,” the mayor said.

She noted a unique feature — the siting of the building to avoid the valley’s winds that can sweep napkins away.

The center’s huge barn doors open onto a concrete patio area that leads to a lawn between the new building and the historic farmhouse.

As the plans for the facility moved forward, the city formed a partnership with the nonprofit Santa Maria Japanese Community Center to memorialize generations of residents in the Santa Maria Valley more than 80 years after they were sent to internment camps during World War II.

When they learned about a new community center, the nonprofit organization contacted the city, donating $300,000 to the project, which also received $500,000 in federal funds. 

Public Works Director Brett Fulgoni said the project has taken multiple phases with more work to be done, including on the interior of the Smith-Enos house.

“I think this project encompasses the tenacity of this city,” Fulgoni said. “It takes a team to get a project like this done.”

Along with housing an office for the nonprofit Japanese group and displays to celebrate their contributions to the valley, the facility will be available for rental for private events and fundraisers.

The grand opening ceremony also included performances involving Japanese drums along with Guadalupe Buddhist Church members demonstrating dances. 

At the ceremony, members of the Guadalupe Buddhist Church also touted the area’s annual Obon Festival set to again take place this summer.

This year’s event is planned from noon to 6 p.m. July 26 at the Veterans Memorial Community Center, 313 W. Tunnell St., with Japanese food including a barbecue teriyaki one-half chicken dinner, performances and a street party planned.