Riverview formally opened in 1989. After years of planning and building the facilities, Sifu Vincent J. Atripaldi opened the first Riverview doors on 11 beautiful acres on a bend of the Androscoggin River in Topsham. The original Riverview Martial Arts and Security Academy was oriented towards serious adult education. Classes ran 6 days per week throughout the year without exception, and were frequently 4 to 6 hours long at a minimum. Training was rigorous, making excellent use of the river and other terrain for intense self-defense training in all elements. All classes were taught directly by Sifu Atripaldi; the school was filled with dedicated students from professional, business, military, and collegiate backgrounds.

Rapid growth and evolution marked these first years. This small school in the Northeast corner of the country was headlined as "School of the Month" in Black Belt Magazine, a prestigious international martial arts trade magazine which was doing an anniversary edition commemorating the great Bruce Lee. Local families responded quickly to the appearance of an old-style process for nurturing and educating the community, and Riverview began accepting youth students by 1990. By 1993 the training had been so relentless that the grounds of the original facility were exhausted. Grass was disappearing from many acres of the land, due to the rigorous outdoor classes, and the student body was continuing to grow. It was decided that in order to accomodate more people and preserve the existing training facility for future use, a new larger facility would be needed. A three-year search began, and in the interim, Riverview rented a large temporary facility in the heart of Brunswick.

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