LEWISTON – A downtown community center will open with a bigger than usual ribbon cutting Friday.

City officials will join members of Maine congressional delegation on Friday to celebrate the grand opening of the B Street Community Center at the corner of Birch and Bates streets. The ribbon cutting and celebration is scheduled to run from 2 to 6 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud are both scheduled to speak at the grand opening, and Sen. Susan Collins has been invited, according to the city.

In addition, the city and Housing Authority have scheduled singing acts, comedy sketches and presentations from the police and fire departments.

“We knew we wanted to have grand opening, but it just grew and more and more people got involved,” said Jacqueline Camire of the Lewiston Housing Authority. “The more they got involved, the more we decided to turn it into a fun community event.”

Work on the $2.6 million project began in December. It was paid for with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and with grants and loans from the city, Sisters of Charity Health System and Empower Lewiston.

It opened last month, and the various agencies began moving in. The center is now home to nine groups, including the Housing Authority. Other tenants include Advocates for Children, Empower Lewiston, Lewiston Adult Education and Community Concepts. The center is also home to the B Street Health Center, a health center affiliated with the Sisters of Charity Health System, and a fully equipped computer lab.

“The center really caters to the needs of downtown Lewiston,” Camire said. “The response has just been tremendous and we wanted to celebrate with the community.”

The event includes a ribbon cutting by children from Androscoggin County Head Start and Child Care, and from Advocates for Children.

Entertainment includes singing by The Deansmen and the Merimanders and comedy sketches by Strange Bedfellows.

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