(Newport, RI) -- A welcome center at the Breakers Mansion in Newport is finally open. The "Newport Daily News" reports about six-hundred attended the opening of the welcome center on Thursday, which took more than five years to put together after architectural plans were shared with the public. The project faced intense opposition from neighbors and a group that included members of the Vanderbilt family, which built the house. Nearly half-a-million people are estimated to visit the historic landmark annually.