A decade ago, Westwood resident Norma Brambila set out to convince the city to finally bring a recreation center to her neighborhood in southwest Denver.

She never expected anyone to listen, even though she and her community showed up to countless public meetings and stayed on message for years.

And yet there she was on Friday, writing her name in marker on the last steel beam in the skeleton of the future Westwood Recreation Center. She was one of a crowd of neighbors and city leaders to join a “topping out” ceremony for the project.

The new rec center, which broke ground in April, includes a gym, a basketball court and an indoor pool — something Brambila and her neighbors wanted badly.

The place was still a raw construction site when Brambila walked in, but she said she was overcome

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