As soon as anyone enters the Best Friends Learning Center, he or she is immediately met with a giant indoor playground. However, the state-of-the-art child care center has much more to offer than just a space for play.

Community members got the chance to walk through the halls of the school for the first time at a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house Saturday morning.

"It's taken me five-and-a-half years to see it finally here," said owner Maria LaPorta, holding back tears. "It's been an emotional day."

LaPorta has owned the land since 2008, but after some setbacks, construction finally began on the building at 237 Sandwich Road in March of this year. The school is set to open Tuesday.

The building will open 14 years after Laporta started the Best Friends Preschool on Windsor Drive.

She said 60 students are set to come to the Center on Tuesday, ranging from infants to school-aged children. The building is currently licensed to hold 105 students, but Laporta said she hopes the school can eventually reach a full capacity of 175.

Laporta said there are about 15 staff members at the school, including Director Cheryle Shubert, who was one of the many staff on hand to greet parents and prospective students.

"I'm excited to start this program," she said. "I can't wait for all the giggles and smiles on the kids faces when they walk into here."

The Center will be the first preschool in the state to have an indoor playground, according to LaPorta. Other aspects that set it apart are a 6 a.m. start time and webcams that will be installed in the infant rooms. Parents, especially first-time parents, will be able to monitor their children via the internet if they so choose.

Outside of the Center Saturday morning, children ate cotton candy and popcorn and had their faces painted while parents got a chance to take a closer look at the building on the inside.

Wareham resident Alisa Stevens will be taking her 3 1/2-year-old son Jackson to the center on Tuesday. "I thought it was really nice. It seemed pretty secure," she said. "We just moved here and this was the only center that stood out to us."