The only parking issue at 819 Abbott Road on Friday evening may have been finding a space.

East Lansing’s Hannah Community Center opened its doors after being dormant for nearly five years, during which area residents and city officials heatedly debated the number of parking spaces at the site.

Dust of construction and controversy have settled - 190 parking spaces have been paved, despite residents’ concerns.

Inside, deep greens and blues color the carpeting that lines the hallways. Wooden columns stretch up to the second floor where much of the guests gathered.

While on the first floor, glass cases line the walls where students might have once leaned, waiting for their next class or just talking to friends. Guests could not help but joke about feeling like high school freshmen, trying to find their way around the building for the first time.

“I’m itching to get on the third floor where my locker was, I just wish I remember the number,” said Vic Loomis, an East Lansing council member who attended the school in the late-50s. He walked the halls, greeting old school chums and talking about his years as a student there.

Built in 1927, the building served as a school for the city. Its doors were closed in 1997 as a result of a declining student population in the city.

But the building was far from the city’s back burners.

In 1998, some city officials and citizen volunteers held a two-day assembly to determine if the building could be revamped into a community center. Later that year, the citizens of East Lansing voted in favor of a $7 million bond issue to renovate the building. The project cost roughly $8 million.

But the initial design of the building met with some controversy. Concerns over parking and green space led a group of citizens to propose an alternative to the planned parking lot.

Standing-room-only city council meetings went past midnight with residents debating on the parking areas for the center.

At the center of the debate was the north field, which some wanted to keep instead of using it for parking.

The group, Citizens To Keep Hannah Green, worked with architects, traffic engineers, lawyers and educators to provide city officials with alternative plans for green space.

More than 1,600 hours were spent developing the plan to keep a 39-space parking lot away from surrounding houses.

Residents hoped to keep part of the area for green space with playground equipment.

East Lansing resident Marion Anderson was part of the group that opposed the city’s design for the center’s parking.

“That has been a play area since 1925, we thought that it should continue as a play field,” she said. “Many East Lansing residents used to play ball in that field.”

Meanwhile, the city managed to finish its plan for the center.

Fully completed, the center features a refurbished auditorium that seats 520, a fitness center with cardiovascular equipment, two gymnasiums with hardwood floors and a four-lane, 25-yard indoor pool.

There also is a teen center as well as a senior citizens center that has a computer lab and activity rooms.

The guests on Friday greeted each other in formal dress to celebrate the grand opening as the smell of food and sounds of a violinist flooded the second floor of the center.

Among the polished tile and lightly stained wood columns, Mayor Mark Meadows, dressed in a tuxedo, stood greeting guests.

“It boarders on the spectacular,” Meadows said. “This was the original high school, now it is the original community center.”

Some got the chance to get lost in memories of going to class or talking with classmates.

To keep the original feel of the building, tile work, light fixtures, paneling and wrought iron railings were replicated.

But changes such as a fireplace lounge for visiting, a small conference room and a fitness center with cardiovascular equipment were included in the finished product.

One change that startled many was in the main entrance. The second floor has opened into an atrium on either side overlooking the first floor.

During the opening ceremony, several contributors to the project were honored for their work.

Former Councilmember Beth Schwarze was among them and clutched her plaque with a sense of accomplishment.

“I just love this building,” she said. “It was a real labor of love for everyone, though.”