Due to the upcoming renovations at the Boys and Girls Club ofLincoln County building, the club will close down for approximatelyseven months.

The club’s board of directors arrived at the decision Wednesday.Its reason for suspending all club activities was to give parentstime to plan for the after-school care of their children before thesecond semester of school begins on Monday.

“The Boys and Girls Club board met, and we came to theunderstanding that it would be best for us to close down during therenovations,” said Brookhaven Police Department Captain Bobby Bell,who serves as the president of the club’s board of directors. “Wewanted to make the call early so our club parents would beprepared.”

Bell petitioned the Brookhaven City School Board to providetemporary housing for the Boys and Girls Club while work at theclub’s building was carried out. He said the school board receivedhis request with enthusiasm, but research into the legalities ofcommitting public school space to the club had to be carried outbefore a decision was made. That research is still ongoing, andwith the second semester of the 2007/2008 school year startingMonday, Bell and the club’s board of directors felt that time hadrun out for the request.

“The Brookhaven school board was all in favor of housing us, andI appreciate that, but we had to make this decision before schoolopened back up,” Bell said. “Our parents had to be prepared to dosomething with the children after school each day, and we felt thatif we waited any longer, we would be putting those parents in abind.”

Bell was hopeful that the school board would provide him withthe necessary housing for the Boys and Girls Club, but he said heharbors no ill feelings that the plan fell through.

“It takes a long time to work out these legal issues, and Iunderstand that,” Bell said. “If they had given that space to me,and then someone else requested it while the club was in there,that could have created a big legal problem. I appreciate theefforts they made for us anyway.”

While the club is closed, the more than 90 children who attendthe club after school each day will be without their usualafternoon activities and supervision.

“It’s now the parents’ responsibility to find activities forthem every day,” Bell said. “And I hate that, cause I take pride inthis club. That’s why I support and serve it – it gives students asafe haven in the afternoons while their parents are at work.”

Boys and Girls Club parents, while thankful that the old clubbuilding is receiving its first major repairs in more than 15years, are facing small crises with the care of their childrenafter school.

One working parent who is scrambling to deal with the dilemma ofunsupervised children is Cable One’s Cynthia Price.

“That’s not going to work out too well for me,” she said of theclub’s closing. “With the club, I had someone that would take careof my kids, help them with their homework … it’s gonna be hard tofind someone as reliable as the club to send my children to.”

Price, a 15-year veteran and supporter of the Boys and GirlsClub, has one child and three grandchildren who attend the clubdaily. She said she will be looking for someone to watch thechildren in the afternoons, as, most of the time, she is not ableto leave work until after 5:30, leaving her children andgrandchildren an almost three-hour window in which they willrequire supervision.

Price is not the only parent who needs a quick fix for childrenwho are home alone.

“It really does put me in a bind,” said King’s Daughters MedicalCenter Supervisor Tiffany Blackwell, whose three children aremembers of the club. “The Boys and Girls Club helps out a lot withmy kids. Either me or my husband will have to try to get off workearly so our kids won’t be at home by themselves.”

Blackwell said her duties at the hospital keep her there until4:30 p.m. at the earliest, leaving one and one-half hours that herchildren will need supervision. She said she would probably spendthe weekend searching for a babysitter to watch her children in theafternoons until the club reopens.

Blackwell is, however, looking forward to the club building’srepairs.

“Having the club closed will be an inconvenience, but it’s gonnabe so much better when it opens,” she said.

While the club is scheduled to remain closed for seven months,there is a possibility that the renovation work may not take thatlong. Bell said he would monitor the progress of the renovations atthe club building as they are carried out and would be ready toreconvene the club as soon as the repairs are complete.