“Governor. You can look back on your eight years and office and say you did something. This is just one of the things you did.”

Those few words were exchanged between two people who at times have been on very opposite ends of an argument, but Thursday came together to celebrate a project that proved cooperation can produce results.

When state Sen. Hank Sanders told Gov. Bob Riley those words, they were walking from the dining hall of the new Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center, on the campus of Wallace State Community College, to stand together at the center’s ribbon cutting.

Joined by other state and local leaders, as well as other dignitaries, the two — one a staunch Republican, the other a passionate Democrat — were to officially unveil the nearly $25 million project that ensured the training facility remained in Selma and gave those men and women who keep us a safe, the quality training facility they have needed for the better part of four decades.

“Today, the quality of this facility has finally caught up to the quality of men and women it trains,” Alabama Speaker of the House, state Rep. Seth Hammett said.

How right he was.

The facility, which was funded out of the $1 billion education bond approved a few years ago, is without a doubt has no peer in other states in the Southeast and it may be hard to find one comparable anywhere in the country.

“I am peacock proud and honeymoon happy because this has truly been a work in progress,” Wallace President James Mitchell said.

After seeing the completed project and knowing the quality of men and women the facility it will produce, we couldn’t agree more.

Add to that the facility will continue to call Selma home for a long time, and you have yourself a lot this community can be “peacock proud” of.