Boys & Girls Club Faces Hurdles Before Reopening

The men’s locker room at the Port Hueneme Boys & Girls Club has just been painted a bright royal blue. The door to the toilet stall was recently blasted clean of graffiti and rehung. Rusted metal nuts and bolts and an aged light-switch cover lie on a bench in the middle of the room. The floor awaits volunteers with the time to stain it.

The city ordered the club closed on Sept. 1 for repairs, blaming club officials for not maintaining the building. Now the city, which owns the building, and the Boys & Girls Club of Port Hueneme, which rents it for $1 a year, are negotiating a new lease that will settle tricky issues of responsibility for the 17-year-old structure.

Both sides say they are cooperating to get the club reopened as soon as possible, for the sake of the young people who depend on its programs. But several snags remain.

Dick Velthoen, city manager, said the building at 590 E. Pleasant Valley Road had deteriorated to the point where the city believed it was a liability for lawsuits.

“There have been lots of safety issues, cleanliness issues,” he said, adding that under the most recent lease the Boys & Girls Club is responsible for maintenance. A list of problems compiled by a city inspector last March includes everything from paint chips and water stains to exposed wiring and rusted doors.

“The bottom line is, we’re doing what we have to do to be open for the kids,” said Chuck Muncie, executive director of the club. “But you can’t tell me that the electrical, the heating and air conditioning and the plumbing deteriorated since 1993. . . . We’ve fixed it because we don’t have a choice.”

The building, which opened in 1978, was originally shared by the city and the club. When budget woes forced the city to cut back recreational programs in 1993, the Boys & Girls Club took over the entire building, which includes a gymnasium, a computer laboratory, a game room, a sauna and office space.

Velthoen said a new lease should allow for monthly city inspections, but maintenance will remain the club’s responsibility. He added that by charging only $1 in rent, the city was in effect giving the club significant financial support.

A federal Community Development Block Grant funded a new roof for the building in 1994, but Muncie said the gymnasium still leaks--causing the water damage the city inspectors have cited as a problem.

Muncie said the city, as landlord and owner, should have some responsibility for structural problems.

The club recently repaired the ventilation system in the gymnasium, he said, and in the process discovered that exhaust fans were installed backward. That situation was not caused by the presence or activities of the Boys & Girls Club, he said.

Brendan Hendrick of Ventura, a member of the club’s board of directors for more than six years, said he didn’t think the building should have been closed. He added that the city’s inspection might have simply come at an unfortunate time of day.

“If it was checked at 3 or 4 p.m. after we had been open all day, you could say that a tornado had hit the place,” he said. “If I went in later at night, I would probably say the tornado had done no damage.”

A more recent city inspection, conducted last week, found the building’s condition much improved, Velthoen said.

Both club and city officials say a large increase in membership led to more wear and tear on the building after Muncie, a former professional football player for the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints, took over as executive director.

Muncie said the large membership, now more than 3,000 children and teen-agers, strains the organization’s small budget and that maintenance costs are hard to cover.

Many recent repairs were done with donations of time, expertise and supplies by supporters of the club, but Muncie said the club needs to sublet the facility for private functions to generate revenue for future repairs.

Velthoen said city property should only be used for functions with a civic or community purpose. Community donations and help from such organizations as the United Way should provide enough support for the group, he said.