FARMINGTON — More than 10 years of planning and work have finally brought the Emery Community Arts Center close to fruition.

Jayne Decker, artistic director, and Stan Spilecki, technical director for the center, provided an early peek Tuesday as workers painted, pounded and added finishing touches to the structure on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington.

An opening celebration is planned for Sept. 7. Music, art and performances will be featured from 3 to 8 p.m., along with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony and a reception at the Homestead Bakery, combining campus and community, Decker said. The public is welcome to attend.

With an anonymous gift of $5 million, members of the campus and community have spent several years working to enlarge the center to offer year-round performances and artistic opportunities.

The center, named for Ted and Marguerite Emery, was designed by designLab Architects and built by Pizzagalli Construction.

Opening day will feature artwork from local community members displayed throughout the new building, Decker said.

The outside west wall of Alumni Theater will serve as a place to project art by cameras mounted to the metal framework of the ceiling. The large rooms showing the ceiling structure provide an opportunity to hang art. Every corner, every nook is planned for exhibits of art.

The wall is also part of an open corridor that connects a sidewalk and entrance behind Dearborn Gymnasium to an art quad featuring a large step platform, grass and trees between Merrill Hall, the art center and Alumni Theater, Decker said.

As people pass through the corridor, which Decker called a “fluid walkway,” they will view artistic works and see into the main performance area through windows along the opposite wall.

The showcase is a 2,500-square-foot, 160-seat major performance space that will offer flexibility, Spilecki said. Seating can be arranged in the round or facing an open balcony for performances. A dressing room and a green room provide space for performers to prepare and wait for their entrances.

A technical booth overlooks the performance area, providing sound, lighting, video capability and computer technology.

Large barn doors, similar to those of an airplane hangar, fold up to allow performances to spill out onto the outside, grassy space.

Decker envisioned blankets and chairs dotting the grass as people watched a performance framed by the doorway or out on the lawn.

“It’s the most exciting part of the whole project,” she said

A large, light ticket booth awaits near the Academy Street entrance that also provides lobby space and handicapped accessibility to Alumni Theater.

Another large, open space will be available for a variety of exhibits, she said.

It is also a flexible gathering space with panels positioned within the floor to offer technological sound and video systems without electrical cords along the floor, Spilecki said.

Construction revealed another performance space that the planners didn’t bank on. The ramp and steps off the art quad lead up to a large, concrete space in front of the entrances to the theater and the art center.

“The steps are a natural stage. It’s one more gift,” Decker said. She said she envisioned musical or Shakespearean performers in the space.

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