Following a decade’s worth of planning, Yountville’s renovated and expanded community center and library is now a reality.

At the project’s heart is the town’s 1922 renovated community hall. Available for decades for social functions and dances, now the modernized, 87-year-old landmark is surrounded by all-new buildings, making the project a “modern juxtaposition of the old and new,” Yountville Town Manager Steve Rogers said.

The project broke ground on Aug. 5, 2008.

Next to the center is an outdoor community space, indoor and outdoor kitchens, a patio, art room and library complete with a reading room.

Including its satellite rooms, the library is about 1,800 square feet and will boast at least eight public computers — six more than at Yountville’s current library.

Housed inside town hall, Yountville’s older library has a collection of 8,886 items, according to Danis Kreimeier, director of library services for the county. Although it’s hard to say how much the new library’s collection will grow, library officials “really want to have it targeted to the community and what they enjoy,” she said, adding that Friends of the Yountville Library donated $10,000 for the new library’s furniture and computers.

Adjoining the library, a teen room will boast computer access, a 46-inch flat screen TV, board games, a Nintendo Wii, Xbox and other amenities. Rogers said seniors will have access to the equipment while teens are in school, especially Wii fit, which is widely used in hospitals as a physical therapy tool.

Rogers said the town is putting the art room to use by creating a community arts partnership so that professional, amateur and student artists can create and show their work there. Having a space designated for artists has town residents establishing a new arts committee, he said. In fact, Napa Valley Film Festival organizers are considering using the new center for the 2010 festival, according to Rogers.

Overall, the $12.8 million project came in at about $100,000 under budget, probably making it Yountville’s “most expensive municipal project to date,” Rogers said.

The project also includes a multi-purpose room, expanded parking and even a small substation for the sheriff’s department. The complex also houses Yountville’s post office.

Rogers said much of the project budget went toward remodeling the community hall, which needed a lot of attention — including replacing all windows, repairing trusses and some wood rot and adding new insulation.

“We respect the history of this building,” Rogers said, adding that Yountville residents “wanted a front porch” for the town.

Slated for community and Parks and Recreation activities, parts of the new center will also be available for governmental nonprofits and community fundraisers.

Rogers said although some residents early on in the process questioned Yountville’s need for a renovated and expanded center, most local reaction is positive about the project today.

“People are really excited about the library moving,” Rogers said, citing a recent conversation with a Yountville 20-something who told him, “I wish we could have had this when I was growing up.”

John De Lorenzo, Yountville’s interim parks and recreation director, said the center will generally be open from 7 a.m. to midnight daily for community use. Although most programs for teens and school-aged children will be after school, activities for seniors will generally be available throughout the day. Parks and recreation will offer about three dozen activities ranging from art, cooking and computer classes to senior activities, open gym time and yoga.

The gym will provide locals with a place to play basketball, volleyball, soccer and other indoor activities and sports.

An outdoor community plaza will boast free wi-fi connections for people to hop onto the Internet. The same space will be used for public concerts, or just a meeting place for people to enjoy coffee with friends.

The new center is slated for LEED certification, and a few of its green features include a geothermal heating and cooling system, energy efficient windows, water-saving fixtures and irrigation systems and geothermal heating. Rogers said although past annual electric bills for the community hall alone typically ran at about $100,000, that will drop to next to nothing next year, even though the facilities are expanded.

Rogers said a 2 percent hotel tax increase — from 10 to 12 percent — is paying for the project. Voters approved the change in 2003.

A community Thanksgiving dinner will be held Thursday at the center. An open house and Christmas tree lighting is planned for Dec. 11.

De Lorenzo said Parks and Recreation’s regular activities will resume at the center in January.

“We’re really excited,” Rogers said. “I think it’s going to help us serve the community a whole lot better.”

What: Yountville Community Center and Library ribbon-cutting ceremony

Where: 6516 Washington St., Yountville.

When: Today at 3 p.m.