City and neighborhood leaders today celebrated the opening of a new gymnasium at the Thomas Bell Community Center. Mayor Martin Chavez called it the "greenest gym in the state."

The gym features solar panels for heating, natural light that reduces the need for electricity, sisterns that recycle water and features made out of recycled material.

Chavez said the city is expecting national certification of the gym's friendliness to the environment.

"It's really remarkable," he said. "We've raised the bar."

The gym sits in the Kirtland Addition neighborhood. The $3 million project also involved refurbishing much of the community center.