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Earle Gumbs said he has been waiting since 1985 for the Hillcrest Heights Community Center in his neighborhood to become fully functional.

His wait came to an end this past Saturday when the community center opened its doors to the public after a 20-month, $4 million renovation by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The new center includes a 6,000-square-foot expansion, two new multipurpose rooms, a new fitness center, child care room and playground.

The opening of the facility was welcomed with fanfare from the community with a parade and concert on the grounds of the facility. It had been closed since October 2008.

"It's a rewarding accomplishment," said Gumbs, who is president of the Hillcrest Heights-Marlow Heights Civic Association and helped petition Prince George's County officials for funding for the center.

County Councilwoman Camille Exum (D-Dist. 7) of Capitol Heights and Council Chairman Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel were on-hand for the opening, as well as Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) of Fort Washington.

"This is a glorious day — all I can say is, ‘Finally," Exum said. "Don't tear it up. It's here for you."

Debbie Tyner, M-NCPPC's division chief of southern area operations, said the new facility is well suited for the community, a densely populated area whose residents have a wide range of ages.

"The expansion will invite more activity, more classes and more activities for our citizens," she said. "There are needs in this area. This [community] is heavily populated by school-aged children."

Community members have been petitioning the county and state for funding to build a community center in Hillcrest Heights since. By 1991, the facility opened as a 16,000-square-foot center along an abandoned golf course that sat right outside of Washington, D.C.

But as the population in the community grew, so did its needs. Gumbs said the community again started petitioning the county to expand the facility and offer more activities for both young and old.

Funding for a larger facility was approved in the county's Capital Improvement Plan in 2007, he said.

Community members said the 1990s-style center didn't quite fit the needs of young people who increasingly began loitering in the community and at the nearby Iverson Mall in Temple Hills.

"I'm ecstatic about the idea that the children have another venue for them that's a controlled environment other than being out on the streets," said Deborah Dumore, who lives in Hillcrest Heights.

Nicholas Ballinger, 9, of Hillcrest Heights is the youngest of five boys in his family and said before the center opened, he didn't have much to do.

"I sat around the house and played games," he said.

Nicholas' older brother Shawn Ballinger, 16, said he plans to visit the center to play basketball.

"Going outside, nobody is in the neighborhood — around here you have friends," he said. "We can't do nothing in our neighborhood because there are no facilities."