An animal sanctuary in Newtown created to honor the memory of a 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim marked a new chapter on Wedesday, with the official opening of Catherine’s Learning Barn. The educational facility is the first building at the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, which has sat on 34 acres since 2014.

“We got here because of a lot of dedication and time and commitment to living out Catherine's legacy,” said mom Jenny Hubbard.

News 12 was there in December after the start of construction, when the sanctuary held its version of a traditional barn raising and invited the community to join in. Volunteers drove pegs into timber beams before crews framed what is now a 3,400-square-foot space.

The two-story building will house many of the nonprofit's programs that teach kindness and compassion to animals in memory of a little girl with fiery red hair and a matching passion for all creatures.

“This place, through programming and through events, would be a place where kindness and compassion would grow into human empathy and where we would just create a world that Catherine would have seen in her mind. And I think that's the world we want to create,” Jenny Hubbard told News 12.

The barn allows the sanctuary to host school field trips, community workshops and retreats without being weather dependent.

“We wanted to see the work that we do grow and expand, and we couldn't do it without a dedicated facility,” Jenny Hubbard said.

On Wednesday, community leaders and elected officials joined sanctuary staff for an official dedication and ribbon cutting, followed by tours of the barn, which includes a commercial kitchen, so the space can be rented out for private events.

Inside, photographs of Catherine line the walls.

“I think that her spirit is just infused into every single aspect whether it's the physical construction and the details of the construction or the programming that's already happened and that will happen. It’s her. It’s her spirit,” Jenny Hubbard explained. “We've said we can make a remarkable impact and that we can build human empathy through how we honor animals, and now it's our time to shine. We're ready for it.”

The barn is just the first phase in the animal sanctuary's long-term plan, which includes constructing a main building with a welcome center, library and veterinary clinic.

To learn more about the Catherine Violate Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, click here.

PRIOR COVERAGE: Newtown mom continues to build daughter’s legacy 12 years after Sandy Hook tragedy