The planned re-opening of the Curley Community Center in South Boston, which is finally ready for use after a $23.3 million renovation project, has been delayed by more than a year-and-a-half by a cascade of problems, ranging from a legal dispute between the city and its contractors to supply-chain issues that slowed the delivery of furniture. Now, there’s a new obstacle that is blocking Bostonians from using the city-owned facility: birds.

More precisely: Piping plovers, a species that feeds and nests along the sand and has taken up residency on the beach in front of the L Street building. The shorebird is considered a “threatened” population by the federal and state officials.

Last week, a city spokesperson told the Reporter that the facility itself is finally ready for members and visitors to enjoy, but it cannot open until it gets approval from state environmental officials.

Sources familiar with the process say that one of the necessary permits is under the purview of MassWildlife, an agency under the state’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Another must be issued by the Conservation Commission, a city board that is governed by state law.

“The City is in the process of working with the State to secure the needed permits for the beach before the Curley Community Center can reopen. BCYF will invite the community in for tours and membership assistance once the permitting is in place. BCYF has finalized programming and is planning on a summer reopening.”

Still, as of this week, there’s no date certain for a re-opening and no clarity about when the permits will be issued.

Mayor Wu, who has toured the facility and calls it “gorgeous,” is clearly frustrated by this latest delay. “It’s ready to go,” she told the Reporter this week.

“The weather is so beautiful. We should be out on the beach and the young people should be having full run of the space. We’re working hard to get it resolved, but I guess it’s because the beach has been shut down for so many years, the birds have now found a quiet spot. So, it wasn’t like this before and they’ve now moved in, to some extent.”

Asked if it might be possible to open the center without beach access for now, the mayor said that the permit presented a “legal challenge, because everything is tied together right now with the language on the permit.”

The Curley Center – often simply called “L Street” – closed to the public in March 2020 at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis. The center never re-opened, with city officials choosing to instead “fast-track” construction and work started inside the building in October 2020.

The renovation project – a complete rebuilding and modernizing of the 1930s era building on Columbia Road – was supposed to be largely completed by Nov. 2021 with amenities like a new-and-improved dance studio, fitness center, senior space, locker rooms and three multi-purpose rooms for community events.

But the project was beset by dueling lawsuits triggered by a dispute between the city of Boston and contractors hired to complete the job. The job was also hampered as workers waited for the delivery of essential equipment and furniture needed for operations inside the building.

Last December, city officials told the Reporter that the center would likely re-open in the winter. In February, that timeline was shifted to late spring or early summer as “pending supply chain issues” were blamed for missing tech equipment and furniture needed to open the site.

This month, as runners and bicyclists zip by its closed doors and sunbathers lounge on surrounding sands with temps nearing 80 degrees, the finished facility is fully furnished, but otherwise empty most days. Several “closed” signs hang in each of the entrances along Columbia Road.

Wu, who has visited L Street and even held a cabinet meeting inside the facility, expressed her desire to see a quick resolution to the permitting matter.

“I walked it with the staff from one end to the other. It’s incredible that the facilities are just sitting empty waiting for the Piping Plovers to figure it out…. It’s ready to go.”