The doors of the Curley Community Center on Columbia Road in South Boston swung open to the public today for the first time in more than three years, welcoming residents eager to get their first look at the beachfront amenity that has been completely renovated and modernized in a $31.2 million project.

The facility will not be open for members to use until June 15, but Friday’s open house featured tours led by staff members from the Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF). Boston residents can use the facility for free through September. After that, members must pay an annual fee that has not yet been set, according to city officials.

Above, a view inside one of the atriums inside the L Street entrance of the Curley Center.

The beach along L Street, as the facility is often called, remains closed to the public through at least August. While members can sit outside on benches, fencing has been installed to protect birds known as Piping Plovers, which started nesting in the sand during the three-year period when the building was closed. Because the species is considered a “threatened” population, city officials are waiting on a state-level permits needed to reopen the beach. The facility, which first opened in 1931 as a bathhouse named for former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, will open months ahead of the beach areas.

The most recent overhaul includes a fitness studio, a yoga and dance studio, space set aside for children, steam and sauna areas for men and women, separate areas for teens and seniors, a strength training area, and multi-purposes offices and meeting rooms.

New windows that include airy, two-story skylights in the building’s three main lobby areas have transformed the bunker-like old bathhouse into a bright and open space with spectacular views of Dorchester Bay, the JFK Presidential Library and Harbor Islands.

Edward McGuire, director of Boston Center for Youth and Families, and José Masso, the city’s Chief of Human Services, were among those on hand to walk visitors through the facility, along with other BCYF staff.

McGuire, a South Boston resident, emphasized that although the facility is located in Southie, it’s a citywide asset that welcomes Bostonians from all over the city’s 23 neighborhoods.

Ed McGuire, left, and Chief José Masso on the beachfront-facing side of the newly completed Curley Community Center. Bill Forry photos

“We wanted to give people an opportunity to walk through the facility and check it out,” McGuire said. "It’s definitely drastically different from what is previously was. In the old building it was obviously, you know, segregated by sex. You couldn't walk continuously from one end to the other. And if it’s your first time here, it's a little overwhelming. So, we thought that it would probably be best to just get people the opportunity to walk through because they've been looking at it for the last three years from the outside.”

Masso said the Friday’s open house was also something of a celebration for residents who have been waiting patiently for the project to finish up. The project was delayed by supply chain issues and a dispute between the city and its chief contractor.

“Folks have been waiting for this space, so to welcome people in at this moment in time in which they're able to see it first time and, and it takes everybody's breath away… It’s been transformational. So, we want people to get a chance to not only get acclimated, but to be able to celebrate," he said.

One of the residents on hand for a first-look was Claire Lyons, who was accompanied by her granddaughter Madden, who will work with kids at the center this summer.

Lyons, a retired nurse who works with seniors to keep their blood pressure monitored, called the renovated building “a dream come true.” Not having access to the Curley for three-plus years has “been tough,” she said.

“I'm working in senior housing doing blood pressure checks now and there's a woman in one of my buildings that's an actual L Street Brownie and she still swims. She cannot wait to get back in here. There’s such a community here.”

As for the finished project, Lyons says: "Oh, it’s a hundred times more than I could ever have imagined.”

The fitness center will offer instructor-led classes starting on June 20. There are facilities and dedicated rooms for children and teens inside the Curley, but it is not a “drop-off” facility. Parents and guardians must accompany minors.

Free tours will continue until June 14. On weekdays, the tours will be available once an hour, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Weekend tours will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more info, see Boston.gov/BCYF-Curley.

One of the cardio rooms in the Curley.