After years of waiting and setbacks, the New York City Housing Authority finally opened the Ingersoll Houses Community Center, restoring a vital community resource to public housing residents in Fort Greene.

The center is located at 177 Myrtle Avenue, on the site of a previous community center that was closed in 2001. Since then, the Ingersoll houses have gone without one.

At a ceremony opening the $7 million, state-of-the-art facility, Ed Brown, president of the Ingersoll Tenants Association, described years of running under-funded community programs like bare-bones basketball leagues with little space or support.

Now, basketball games will be played in the center’s brand new gymnasium.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Brown, who advocated for the center for years alongside Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, and Councilwoman Letitia James. “When I see this building I see promise, I see possibility and I see progress.”

The 18,000-square-foot building, designed by NYCHA’s Office of Design, is one of several being built across the city to replace old or closed-down facilities.

The colorful, eco-friendly Ingersoll community center features a full-sized basketball court, fitness room, dining area and office space on the first floor. The second floor boasts classrooms, a library and a lounge area with views of the basketball court.

In a speech, NYCHA Chairman John Rhea acknowledged the delay in opening the center, saying he knew “it’s been all too long.”

Rhea also urged patience as NYCHA moves forward with an ambitious $150 million overhaul of the Ingersoll and Whitman Houses, part of a $423 million stimulus aid package for NYCHA awarded by the Obama Administration. “We ask that you bear with us,” he said.

Jeffries said the community center is a good start.

“We commend NYCHA for keeping their word” and completing the community center, Jeffries said. For low-income residents being pushed out of ever-more-desirable Fort Greene, he said, the center would provide important opportunities and support.

The center will provide a bevy of educational, recreation and other programs, besides serving meals six days a week.

Isabella lee, president of the Whitman Resident Association, said it’s better late than never for the center. “I’m thrilled that it’s opening up now,” she said. “It should have been opened long ago.”