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Locals gather for the Otis Redding Center for the Arts ribbon cutting. The new center invited folks inside its brand new facility following speeches from Otis Redding’s family, foundation members and local business leaders. Jason Vorhees / The Melody.

Hundreds gathered in the Zelma Redding Amphitheater Tuesday morning for the Otis Redding Center for the Arts’ inaugural ribbon cutting, celebrating the culmination of nearly five years of planning and building.

The lawn outside the brand new center, which sits at the intersection of Cotton Avenue and Cherry Street, was populated by county commissioners, chamber representatives, musicians and other local leaders.

The Otis Redding Foundation led the ceremony by acknowledging the community’s support and noting the center’s capacity to be part of the community.

“This is not just a building for kids,” said Justin Andrews, Otis Redding’s grandson and the foundation’s director of special projects and outreach.

“This is not just a building for the Reddings. This is not just a building for anybody who wants to do music in the arts. This right here is a community project.”

Although it was not yet installed for the opening ceremony, the statue of Otis Redding that was unveiled at Gateway Park in 2002 will be repositioned outside of the center sometime within next week at the intersection of Cherry Street and Cotton Avenue.

Karla Redding-Andrews, Otis Redding’s daughter and the foundation’s executive director, said she hopes the new statue’s site will become one of the most photographed spots in Macon.

“Everything that we’ve ever done in this community, we’re so respected and so supported, and I am just grateful for that,” she said. “I think our community knows if we set out to do something, we’re gonna tell the truth and we’re gonna do it.”

Construction on the center, located at the former site of Nu-Way Wieners, started nearly two years ago.

The land for the center was given to the foundation by Zelma Redding, and the foundation then raised “a little over” $11 million to erect the new facility, Redding-Andrews said.

Following the speeches from the family, staff, sponsors and Mayor Lester Miller, attendees were invited inside the center. The 15,000-square-foot center contains a state-of-the-art recording studio and several practice rooms and classrooms.

Classrooms were adorned with musical instruments and toys, bright and playful furniture and various pieces of Otis Redding memorabilia.

The center will operate not only as a place for children to practice their music and hang out after school, but also as a concert venue. ORCA offers lessons for instrumentalists, vocalists and songwriters, along with camps teaching kids how to produce music.

Kimberly Kellsey Epps, the center’s director, said the studio’s technological capabilities are among the best in the state.

With the center open, the foundation will begin rolling out new music workshops for kids along with other programs oriented around music education, Epps said.

“It was amazing to see all of these bright smiling faces in the middle of a sunshine filled morning in downtown Macon,” she said. “It was a really magical moment to finally be here.”

Vinson Muhammad, a Macon musician and instructor at ORCA, said the center gives kids in the community a place to unlock their creativity.

He said he looks forward most to watching students grow in terms of their career and their personal character.

“The Otis Redding Center for the Arts is a gem in the community, and a resource that definitely will help propel the community forward to the community that we need to be,” he said.

ORCA will open up to the public Saturday at 11 a.m., providing tours and information on programming chased down by Nu-Way hot dogs and shaved ice.

“Otis Redding’s legacy will live on forever even without this building,” Redding-Andrews said. “We want this building to be Macon’s musical legacy.”