The Boys and Girls Club summer program for children is being shut down for the summer in Lexington. At the club on Allen Street, Boys and Girls Club representatives said they decided to close the program because not enough children were participating.

About 25 residents showed up for the meeting last Thursday, and many said the problem was that the programs were inadequate and there was not enough supervision. They also objected to not being given any warning that the clubs might be shut down.

The club operates in a building rented from the Lexington Improvement League, and the summer program has had declining enrolments in recent summers.

There is a group of churches currently trying to organize a program for this summer, and the Lexington Improvement League president Douglas Jones has said he will let the group use the building without paying rent for the summer.

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands executive director Steve Shellenberg said wiht the low number of children participating “we could not generate enough enough to make the club perform.’’

He said the organization agonized over the decision, but decided it would be better off to spend its money in areas where there was more participation.

Several people in the audience objected, saying that transportation was one obstacle and the lack of supervised programs was another obstacle to having children participate.

“Our programs work in other areas. They are proven. Our records indicate we had programs and there were just not enough children here,’’ Shellenberg said.

His comments did not sit well with Maureen Park, who volunteers on Fridays at the club.

“I have been here a lot and not seen any programs. I have seen 20 or 30 children here. We have done programs here and had lots of kids. If you are professionals you should be able to do that. I have not seen any programs at all,’’ she said. She also called the program “just a bad day care center.’’

Another lady in the audience said part of the problem is that the children in Lexington are more spread out. In West Columbia the clubs are near housing projects so there are a lot of children in the immediate area.

There are children in the immediate area, but some do not come because they would have to cross U.S. Highway 1 to get to the clubs.

Shellenberg said his organizaton used to provide transportation, but nine months ago decided to stop because of high insurance costs.

Shellenberg also said his organization has several programs. The children have to do their homework, and there are games and other programs for them to be involved in. He said his records indicate the programs were in operation.

However, parents and other citizens said those programs were not in effect and so many children stopped coming.

Shellenberg said he replaced the center’s director last year, but saw no improvement with the new director.

When another parent asked what the problems were with the director, Shellenberg said that was “an internal matter.’’

He refused to go into detail, saying the conversations between him and the director were privileged information.

Rev. Charles Hudson said it is hard for a community to fix a problem if it does not know what the problem is.

Another parent questioned the groups attendance records, saying that children were not required to sign in or out until she complained, and even then they were not kept regularly.

Jones said his organization tried to fix up the building for the clubs, and said the Boys and Girls Clubs should have let the community know sooner that it intended to close the programs.

They were notified in late April, and the summer programs are to start in late May.

Maureen Park said she comes to the center because she cares about the children.

“This is sort of a spiritual field of dreams. The problem is no programs existed here. If you listened you would hear that, but you are not listening,’’ she said.

Shellenberg defended his organization, saying that if people were concerned about children crossing a busy street they should help them get across.

“If we are so horrific why do you want us to stay,?’’ he asked.

Shellenberg said there were not children signed up for the program in April when the decision was made to not have the summer program.

He said at present the decision will not be changed, but he said if the private summer program works out and the numbers are up, then his organizaton might reconsider then.

Rev. Hudson said he thought the problem was at least partially political.

“If it were just financial I think you would have said something,’’ he said.

Rev. Robert China said he favored seeing how the group getting a program together for this summer does and going from there.

“We are just sparring with each other here, just spinning our wheels,’’ he said of the meeting.

Perrin Love, who is on the board of directors for the boys and girls clubs, said for years he tried to get the club started but had trouble getting a location and financial support.

”It amazes me that it took this announcement to get people out. We needed you five years ago but no one came out then,’’ he said.

He said the location of the club is a problem because people in Lexington believe it is a minority club.

Rev. Hudson agreed, and said after the meeting that he would like for the people of Lexington to get together and build a nice club for children in a more central location.