It’s been an all-out race to the finish line, and despite being the wettest winter on record, construction on the new Vashon Center for the Arts is wrapping up on budget and mostly on time. Last Friday, Sellen Construction, the general contractor for the project, turned over the keys to Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) Executive Director Molly Reed, one week before the promised opening of the building to the community at large at 10 a.m. Saturday.

When visitors step through the tall wood and glass doors to the Katherine L. White Hall on Saturday, past the courtyard on the northwest corner containing the large outdoor sculptures by islanders Julie Speidel, Mark Bennion and Hans Nelsen, they will be greeted by a spacious lobby with polished, stained concrete floors; soaring ceilings and a large, dedicated art gallery. A kiosk housed next to the gallery will hold smaller works of art — including pieces hand-carved from the white oak tree that once stood in the old parking lot of the Blue Heron. The 300-seat auditorium with cast-in-place concrete walls and fir trim is designed for natural acoustics, which accounts for its sizable interior volume. A light-filled green room that appears to be as large as the old performance hall in the Blue Heron will accommodate not just performers, but serve as a classroom and meeting space. Two dressing rooms, a full-size kitchen, loading dock, offices and access to both the catwalks above the stage and the orchestra pit below are among the many functional areas. Throughout the 20,000-square-foot, LEED Silver-certified building, structural elements serve as the final finish, and artwork by islanders is integrated as special elements throughout the structure.

“The building is impressive,” Reed said. “There’s a punch list of details to finish, but when I first stepped into the theater, all I could say was ‘ah’ as I teared up. It’s been seven long years.”

Seven years is only part of a much longer odyssey that began as a dream to build a community art center over 20 years ago. Successfully navigating the turbulent waters toward realizing such a vision would not have been achieved, much less begun, without the generosity of islander Kay White.

A longtime member of Vashon Island Chorale, White, 95, was fed up with fitting the 80-plus member chorale into the nave of Bethel Church. She envisioned a different scenario that included good acoustics and a proper stage.

“I didn’t know Kay or her lawyer,” Reed said, recalling the warm day in August of 2007 when she received a phone call from White’s island attorney, Margaret Koch, “but (Koch) said, ‘I have a client who is tired of people talking about this (arts center) on this island for so many years and never being able to get it done. She is willing to invest a substantial estate in it.’ Koch mentioned to me a sum of around $10 million that day.”

If White’s wish and financial gift launched the arts center, then it’s been the thousands of hours spent by staff, board members and volunteers in planning, working with the architectural firm LMN and raising funds that brought the project to fruition. With $2.1 million in grants from the state, $1.1 million from the county, $2.5 million from the fromer Vashon Allied Arts board, staff and campaign cabinet, gifts from Puget Sound Energy and foundations, the remaining amount came from the island with gifts ranging from $5 to over $1 million dollars.

“People didn’t think we could do it,” Reed said, “but they didn’t take into account the strength of our community, our love of the arts and that we are a 50-year-old organization this year. I also can’t say enough about the support from Sharon Nelson, Joe McDermott, 4Culture and the Murdock Foundation.”

State senator Nelson and King County councilman McDermott will be among the speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, along with Reed and White, plus current and past VAA presidents Denise Katz and Tim Roden. The Free Range Folk Choir will sing, and cake will be served in celebration.

After the presentations, the ribbon will be cut and the public invited to tour the building. Maps have been printed and VCA board members, staff and volunteers will be stationed throughout the center to answer questions.

One question docents no doubt will be answering is about the new name — Vashon Center for the Arts. The moniker refers to both the organization — formerly known as VAA — and to the campus that it occupies.

The buildings are the Katherine L. White Hall, which includes the theater and the Koch Gallery, named for capital campaign donors Hans and Cindy Koch, and the Blue Heron Education Center, which is the new identity for the old building. The education center will be transformed into more classrooms and a second dance studio downstairs.

As for the inaugural performance, the answer is “Carmina Burana.” In honor of White, the chorale will perform its 66th concert in 27 years, on the new stage. Gary Cannon will conduct the 100 singers and the children’s chorus — raggazi — directed by Marita Ericksen.

The open dress rehearsal slated for Thursday, April 28, is already sold out. Tickets are going fast for the VCA Gala Fundraiser on Saturday, April 30. The event will both celebrate the opening of the building and replenish the coffers that would have been filled by proceeds from the annual Garden Tour, which was cancelled due to the opening of the VCA. The matinee concert at 3 p.m Sunday, May 1, is also sold out.

On the First Friday Gallery Cruise in May, islanders can celebrate the opening of the gallery with an all-island show featuring six artists — Mark Bennion, Morgan Brigg, Scott Fife, Art Hansen, David Kroll and Ted Kutscher. And before the chorale can rest on its laurels, it will be back on the new stage singing the powerful Italian choruses for Vashon Opera’s “Pagliacci Palooza” on May 13 and 15.

It’s all coming together, Reed said with a palpable relief in her voice, as she reviewed how the chorale is preparing and the opera rehearsing, before reeling off the busy schedule of diverse performances coming up — from chamber music to rock ‘n’ roll and soul, summer art and dance education camps using the stage, Vashon Center for Dance’s annual performance and more. Still, Reed said future visions for VCA are only beginning to flourish.

“With so much more room for gallery and wall space, with a sprung dance floor on the stage, there are so many opportunities to bring in other art forms, but we also hope there will be community dinners in the lobby. We want to use the entire building,” she said, “not only for arts programming but to host events that might appeal to people who might not want to attend an arts event. We want to build that connection with the community, and we have the space to do it. I hope people will discover there is a place for everyone here.”