After six years of planning, the Lost Pines Art Center opened its doors on Chestnut Street to great fanfare at a donor benefit and welcome party on Friday.

About 200 people came out to see the $4 million art complex, a vision of the nonprofit Lost Pines Art League that began in 2010.

"We are very, very excited to be where we are," project director Karol Rice said Monday. "It’s been difficult to get the breadth of the scope of this out there. People now that they’ve come into the building begin to realize what that is. This is not just a place to come and look at and buy art. It’s a working, living, thriving entity."

The 12,000-square foot glass and metal building opens with an expansive professional gallery two stories tall.

For the center’s opening, it was decorated with art by some of the league’s 140-plus members — a way to thank them for years of dedication and hard work, the center’s executive director Patricia Rendulic said.

The remainder of the first floor houses classroom space, a gift shop and a soon-to-be-open cafe and wine bar, which will serve coffee during the day and varieties from Blessed Bee Winery at night, Rendulic said.

On the building’s second floor are six working studios, rented to various Central Texas artists, including a leathersmith, pastelist and glass blower.

In the future, the center will have traveling art shows, host classes and partner with the school district to offer accredited courses.

"We want to be a creative center where people go and spend time either learning art, making art, selling it or even just being around that creative vibe," Rendulic said.

The center is about 90 percent complete. Still missing are several planned projects in back, including a sound stage for outdoor concerts, a water feature replica of the Lower Colorado River and a sculpture garden, which will memorialize the 2011 Bastrop County Complex Fire.

"I think it’s going to be a very meaningful place for people," said Rice, who owned one of the 1,660 homes destroyed in the fire.

An old steam engine that used to sit on the property will be moved to the west side of Hasel Street.

Three century-old silos from the Powell Cotton Seed Mill that used to sit on site will be transformed into studios for pottery work, glass blowing and stone and wood sculpture.

A fourth silo will be set up as an efficiency apartment for an artist-in-residence program that will invite local, national and international artists to live, learn and teach on property rent free, Rice said.

All of the outdoor elements are expected to be completed in the next three months at a cost of about $500,000, Rice said —money the guild is still acquiring through fundraising and grants.

The organization has received about $4 million in public and private funds to finance the entire project.

The Bastrop Economic Development Corp. wrote the first check — a $100,000 performance-based grant awarded in 2010. Shortly after, the city gave another $400,000 and ArtPlace America provided nearly $500,000. The National Endowment for the Arts gave $75,000 for the center.

That money allowed the nonprofit to purchase the land and construct the building.

The entire project was estimated to be completed in January.

Crews finally gave the go-ahead for the nonprofit to begin moving in Nov. 28, as workers were finishing up the last bit of construction. The group had four days to shift everything from their former space on Main Street to the new building, closing out their lease downtown. It will no longer rent a space on Main Street.

"We kind of hated to lose a Main Street presence," Rice said.

But Rice said it was her goal to be a part of the renovation of Chestnut Street, the city’s main commercial district, which connects the east and west ends of Bastrop. She said the thoroughfare has been in the minds of council members who have planned a long-term vision for the corridor over the next 10 years, including the convention center and plans for the adjacent lot that houses the 1832 Farmers Market.

"Art seems to be a tremendous stimulus for businesses who want to locate where there is some kind of cultural aspect," Rice said. "It has been found to be one of the key items for revitalization of areas in urban cities and small cities that have kind of gone down and lost all their energy and their economy and business."

It is her hope that the art center will catapult the development of Chestnut.

While the overhead at the new building is about three times that of the league’s former location, the organization will save money on rent and has paid off its major expenses by completing the building, Rice said. It still has sufficient money to pay its debt service and plans to obtain additional financing through grants, sales and rentals, Rice said.

Some league members earlier this year, however, questioned the nonprofit’s financial solvency.

In January, former board president Donna Cunningham in an email to members raised concerns about the organization’s management, tax filings, financial processes and payments to Rice and project finance director Jeanette Condray for work on the art center. The center’s former executive director, Rachel Greve, echoed those concerns when she was told the league did not have sufficient funds to pay her salary, according to an email she sent to the organization’s membership.

Greve’s contract was eventually terminated. Not long after, the board cleared itself of any alleged financial wrongdoing and Cunningham resigned under duress.

"That was an interesting time for us and a disappointing time," Rice said. "It made it very difficult for us to go back to our funders."

She called the allegations misinformed.

The board eventually named Michelle Adams as its new president and hired Rendulic as the center’s new executive director. On Monday, Rice said her position had been fully funded through grant money.

Additionally, the league has hired the AMMO Group out of New Braunfels to help with its marketing.

"I think we are in a very healthy position," Rice said.

While she called the multimillion dollar project a "great risk," she said the organization was financially set for the next two years to operate the building.

"We certainly understand the challenges we face," she said. "Others may have some doubts, but we don’t have any doubts."

The BEDC plans to help the organization develop a 10-year business plan, which could include additional land purchases to build cottages for traveling artists, Rice said. In the meantime, she called on local businesses to help support the center in the remainder of its development.

"We have a very bold vision," Rice said. "We’re excited. We’re thrilled. We’re cautious. But we’re optimistic."