Sheron Offer graduated from Wiley H. Bates High School in 1964. She didn't expect to call her old school home more than 50 years later.

“It unites all of the elderly people,” she said.

Wiley H. Bates Heritage Park celebrated its 10th anniversary Wednesday with music, dancing and a buffet inside the Annapolis Senior Activity Center.

The center, along with 71 senior housing units, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Annapolis/Anne Arundel County and the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, make up Heritage Park.

Offer lives in one of the senior homes. After enjoying food, dancing and music, she reflected on the diverse crowd gathering in what once was an all-African-American high school.

“Never thought that would happen,” she said. “I'm glad to be a part of it.”

Wily H. Bates Heritage Park opened in September 2006 after years of lobbying by Janet Owens, a former Anne Arundel County executive.

The building started as an African-American high school in the 1930s.

The facility was later used as a junior high school before it sat vacant for more than 20 years.

The high school was named after Wiley H. Bates, a prominent African-American businessman.

Bates was born into slavery in North Carolina. After the Civil War, he worked jobs along the Chesapeake Bay before settling in Annapolis.

There, he joined Asbury United Methodist Church, the oldest African-American congregation in Annapolis, according to online state archives.

He opened a popular grocery store and earned a seat on the Annapolis city council in July 1897 — elected as Annapolis' third African-American alderman.

The high school was named for Bates in recognition of his work in the community and his effort to secure land for the high school.

After its closure, the building was too big and culturally important to let it fall apart, Owens said. She advocated for Heritage Park, despite naysayers telling her senior housing, a Boys and Girls Club and a senior center wouldn't get along under the same roof.

“I don't think we've ever had a complaint,” Owens said. “This was my baby.”

Ten years later, Heritage Park has a strong volunteer community along with an active senior community. People attend classes and enjoy their time together, said Inbal “Innie” Neun, Annapolis Senior Activity Center director.

“It is also one of the most diverse centers in both age and culture,” Neun said.

That diversity has led to a senior center that feels more like a fellowship than just a meeting place for the elderly, said Delores Hawkins, a Glen Burnie resident.

Hawkins volunteers at the center and makes the 20-mile drive to Annapolis every day to see her friends and plan activities.

The center has been a boon to the community, she said, noting that sometimes older people can feel left out.

“Here,” she said, “they are listened to and cared for.”