The development and design of the new CPAA Arts Center was eight months in the making.

The group's members had chosen Vallco Fashion Park as the home for their new center, a combined effort of three cultural groups—Chinese, Iranian and Indian—offering a range of classes in their respective ethnic arts, from dance to musical instruments.

They'd installed dance floors, created several classrooms and designed a gift shop. It had been an intensive crash course in construction to have the place ready for the grand opening on June 6, but the CPAA managed to get it done.

At around 12 a.m. Friday morning, just two days before the center was due to open, a worker who was putting finishing touches on the center accidentally set off the emergency sprinkler system. By the time Ann Woo, who was in charge of the event, arrived on the scene, the damage was done.

"More than an inch of water had filled up the whole place," she said.

The large room directly above the Ice Center in Vallco had turned into a small lake, and the hopes for an opening ceremony inside the center were ruined.

"You should have seen [Woo's] face the next morning," jokes Fariba Nejat, president of the Iranian Federated Women's Club and member of Payvand, one of the groups sharing the center.

Woo and her associates had only two days before the opening was scheduled, too late to cancel. They filled the studio with floor dryers and aired out the space, but it would not

be entirely ready for Sunday.

This was a difficult setback, but it did not stop the group who had worked so hard to get this far.

In the same unique thinking that brought the three groups together, the organization put a unique spin on the grand opening and simply held the celebration in the hall outside the center.

No one seemed to mind the predicament as the eastern hall of Vallco filled with music and a large group gathered outside to celebrate the symbolic grand opening

"It is a great way to unite communities," said Nejat. "Different vendors from around the mall have helped us put this all together."

Nejat said that she had worked with different store owners who lent their support, as well as lending many different ethnic items such as a Persian rug, Chinese instruments and traditional Persian clothing for display.

The celebration included special presentations from each culture.

A crew of young violinists, led by a Chinese instructor, played familiar tunes while the audience clapped along.

At the same time, Payvand member Bahareh Sabeteadeh wove her way through the audience dressed in a decorative green Persian dress that is reflective of the culture. She approached people with a traditional Persian greeting and offered them rose water to wash their hands. She let them look into a small mirror with a flower on it.

"Rose water is very symbolic," said Sabeteadeh. "It is used a lot in traditional Persian culture."

Her friend Nirvana Anoosheh said that the mirror is also symbolic.

"We say, 'May you be as beautiful and honest as the person you see in the mirror,'" she said.

The ceremony continued as more guests filled the hall. People crowded around the violinists, and Woo gave a speech promising an even bigger grand-opening party on June 20.

After a few words by different leaders in the program, the audience stuck around to watch the playing of more violin pieces and of the traditional Persian instrument the santour—a 72-string instrument played similar to a xylophone.

Harry Liu, one of the guests who had been invited to the event, had a unique take on the incident.

"They are going to be rich," he said. "There is an old Chinese proverb that says water brings success."