Hundreds of Islanders turned out to celebrate Vashon Youth & Family Services’ PlaySpace, an early learning center on the Island that has already become a hub of family-friendly activities.

The building has been at the heart of VYFS’s early learning and child development programs for the past four years. But on Saturday, after a four-month closure for remodeling, it became official: Not only does VYFS now own the 4,000-square-foot stone and timbered structure, but it has christened it with a new name — the Edith Aspiri PlaySpace, after the well-known civic leader and mother of six who was a founding member of VYFS.

During Saturday’s festivities, kids sang songs, read books and played on climbing equipment that adorns the freshly painted center. Outside, other activities unfolded. Some got their faces painted. Others climbed into a fire truck. Several children, students of music teacher Gaye Detzer, picked up violins and performed a few songs, while adults beamed and took photographs.

Lori Means, VYFS’s director of family education and support services, said the celebration marks a dream come true. For years, she and others would schlep equipment in and out of the social hall at Vashon’s Presbyterian Church for the organization’s near-daily play groups and other activities. Means said she and others appreciated the site but longed for a true center for early learning, a permanent play area and gathering site for the Island’s many young families.

Saturday, as she took in the lively scene around her, she said she was amazed and moved. “I couldn’t imagine how we’d get here,” she said. “Six years ago, it was such a dream.”

Ken Maaz, the organization’s executive director, said the site will become even more of a fixture in the agency’s efforts to provide a full suite of early learning activities. Means and Daniel Macca, a family education and support services specialist, will have their offices at the PlaySpace. The organization will also add supervised visitation and mediation to its list of services, he said.

Best of all, he said, the space is now nearly ideal for the kinds of activities that will take place there. A meeting room with windows and double doors, for instance, is adjacent to the play area, so parents can meet while their children romp within eyesight. Another small office provides privacy for parent coaching sessions. New red linoleum, fresh carpet and walls painted a bright yellow-gold add to the center’s warmth.

“It’s amazing for a community this size to have an early learning center,” Maaz said. “It’s such a  great support for families.”