Doves, representing peace and hope, were released

The completion of the �2m building marks the culmination of eight years of hard work by the trustees and volunteers in the community.

Gunman Thomas Hamilton killed 16 schoolchildren and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in March 1996.

The Dunblane Centre includes a series of glass engravings paying tribute to the dead and injured.

Built by the Dunblane Youth and Sports Centre Trust, the completed centre includes a large community sports hall, activity rooms and a dedicated youth centre.

The children and their teacher are remembered here, but in a subtle way Mick North Father of Dunblane victim

The centre provides local youngsters with an art room, music studio, cafe and internet suite.

Anti-gun campaigner Mick North, whose daughter Sophie was one of the Primary One children killed in the massacre, said: "What happened to our children and their teachers eight years ago at the primary school brought waves of sympathy and support from around the world.

"The centre has evolved from that sympathy and support but today is not about dwelling on the past.

"The children and their teacher are remembered here, but in a subtle way. Today is more about the present and the future, I think."

Community spirit

He added: "But I hope and I believe that the town will never forget. If moving on means forgetting, then no, I think it's just something positive for the future."

The opening ceremony for the centre included the release of four doves which symbolised peace and hope for the people of Dunblane and the centre's success.

Parents Bev and Steve Birnie reflected in a mirror at the centre

Alan Robinson, chairman of the Dunblane Youth and Sports Centre Trust, said the needs of young people in the community lay at the heart of the initiative.

Mr Robinson said: "For everyone that's been involved, it's been a way of dealing positively with the trauma and sorrow that they felt at that time.

"The spirit of the place is about what a community can achieve when it works together."

The building of the centre, was made possible by donations from throughout the world which flooded in after the shooting, and a �200,000 award from the Sportscotland lottery fund.

Alastair Dempster, chairman of Sportscotland, said: "We believe it is fitting that a permanent tribute, focused on the youth in the area, has been built in the town."