PORTSMOUTH — The power of community is what really built the new CFP Arts, Wellness and Community Center, Conley Zani, the president of the Common Fence Point Improvement Association (CFPIA), told a few hundred people who gathered around the hall for its grand opening Saturday. 

Chief among then are the “selfless contributors,” Ms. Zani said, “who give their time and energy because they believe, and this place and this project has meaning for them.”

They include brothers Marek and Dominik Chilomer, who built the hall’s new kitchen and stage and installed the TV and sound system free of charge. (CFPIA purchased the materials.)

“We wanted to help the community, and my wife (Yazmin Chilomer) is a Zumba teacher here,” Marek explained. 

Added Dominik, “We know a lot of great people here, so we wanted to be a part of this project together. I think everybody’s going to enjoy this space; it’s great.”

Greg Spier, of the Spier Family Foundation, made it possible for the hall to get its first elevator. “Our charitable foundation works a lot for handicap accessibility,” Mr. Spier said. “My mom’s handicapped and we asked her what we could do to help out and she said, ‘We really need an elevator here.’”

The project met the necessary criteria, so the Foundation donated $50,000 as a challenge grant, and Ms. Zani found another foundation to match it, he said.

“What a great thing for our community,” Mr. Spier said while looking over his shoulder at the gleaming new building. “It was always kind of a hole in the wall before. Now it’s a real gem in Portsmouth. Who would have thought?”

Scott Boyd and David Camara are outside the building every day, working to finish the parking lot, Ms. Zani said. “David has done all of this grading for us — tens of thousands of dollars — for free, because this is his home and how he chooses to give back,” she said. 

Ms. Zani estimated that altogether, about $200,000 in in-kind donations, such as free materials or labor, has been contributed toward the hall. 

There are many others who helped transform the antiquated 50-year-old building to the modern facility that it is today:

• Gina Melone, a Hasbro executive from Tiverton who volunteered her time and connected Ms. Zani with other important people, while helping her come up with a vision of the new hall as a place for the wider community 

• the CFPIA board and trustees and the CFP Zumba “family”

• Sara Meirowitz and Sue Farrier, who helped with grant-writing

• Dan Herchenroether of HerkWorks Architecture and Jeff Moniz of 2 Hands Studio, who left large architectural firms to do more cause-based work

• general contractors John and Ben Hurd, whom Ms. Zani said went “above and beyond"

• the Seaconnet Sportsman’s Club and the Town of Portsmouth, for finding temporary homes for CFPIA programs while the hall was being remodeled

• major contributors such as the R.I. State Council for the Arts (RISCA), van Beuren Foundation, the Champlin Foundation, the Spier Family Foundation, Bank Newport, and the Newport County YMCA, the latter of which is partnering with the hall on exercise classes, child care and other programs

Most of Saturday’s praise, however, was reserved for Ms. Zani herself. She spearheaded the $750,000 renovation project that first got off the ground three years ago. Before Ms. Zani cut the ribbon outside the handsome new foyer on the south side of the building, CFPIA board member Aimee Sweeney told a few hundred people gathered below that the job wouldn’t have been possible without her friend’s hard work and dedication.

“It was clearly Conley’s vision, determination, and devotion that has brought us to this point today,” Ms. Sweeney said.

The ‘little’ fund-raiser

Her remarks were echoed by Kevin and Dianne Weinfeld, who along with the Zani family created a matching challenge last fall that ended up raising more than $150,000 in community contributions.

“We’ve had a home here since 2004 and we’ve used the hall quite often,” Mr. Weinfeld said. “The old place was clearly in disarray. The music component was in decline because the space wasn’t in good enough shape, and we had gone to a lot of concerts.”

The couple heard about a “little thing” at Conley and Mike Zani’s home, so they decided to attend. “I told all our friends to come, but I said it’s not a fund-raiser,” Ms. Weinfeld said with a laugh.

“And then they pulled us into a side room and said, ‘Listen, we’re going to do a matching grant tonight. Would you guys be a part of it?’ And I looked at (Dianne) and she looked at me and I said, ‘Yeah, we’ll be a part of it,” Mr. Weinfeld said.

The fact they were able to raise so much money speaks to the kind of community that is Common Fence Point, Ms. Weinfeld said.

“Common Fence Point is unique; it’s a touchstone,” she said. “It’s kind of like the 1950s on steroids. You know the neighbors, you know their dogs. You get a phone call: ‘My dog needs to be let out.’ My friends were traveling and I noticed a package, so we hid it. People have the code to my garage.

“So we had the community, but we didn’t have the hall. What Conley did, which is so phenomenal, is she merged the two. At her house, everyone was asked to talk about what made Common Fence Point so special to them. It’s the people. She was able to garner the people to revitalize this hall.”

Work continues

After the ribbon-cutting, visitors toured the upstairs of the hall, which is home to Common Fence Music’s concert series, Zumba and other exercise classes, music and arts classes, a gallery, a neighborhood café and more. The downstairs, which is not quite finished, will primarily be used for the YMCA’s after-school program and youth activities. Work also continues on the parking lot.

Ms. Zani said the new center aims to be the “heartbeat of the entire neighborhood,” but will also welcome neighbors from not only Portsmouth but Tiverton, Bristol, Middletown and Little Compton. It will promote connectedness and benefit “those seeking enrichment, artists, creative entrepreneurs” and other nonprofits, she said.

“Everyone needs and deserves a place to enrich and express themselves,” she said, adding that the CFP Arts, Wellness and Community Center “is the place where someone can come when they are in need, and they can find help.”

The new hall, she said, is the “hero” of the neighborhood.

“We want our hall to be the best neighbor evah!”