CENTER HOPES TO KEEP DOORS OPEN

The Cape Girardeau Civic Center plans to reorganize its board in an effort to stay afloat.

The Area Wide United Way recently cut off funding to the center over concerns about the agency's finances and apparent lack of programs.

Former Civic Center board members have blamed Ed Slaughter, Civic Center board president, and Fred Pennington, the center's part-time director, for much of the problem.

But Slaughter and Pennington said they did most of the work for the center because few board members took an active role.

They plan to hold a meeting at the Civic Center, 232 Broadway, on Saturday at 9 a.m. to replace board members who recently resigned over unhappiness with Slaughter's leadership.

The meeting is open to anyone who wants to get involved with the center, Pennington said.

Currently, there are only about six active board members. Slaughter and Pennington want to expand the board to about 14 members.

Pennington said the next step will be to form a finance committee to meet with United Way officials to try and reach an agreement to secure future funding for the Civic Center.

Slaughter said Boatmen's Bank has indicated it would allow the Civic Center to make interest-only payments on its mortgage until the center gets back on its feet financially.

The center owes about $30,000 on the building, which has been appraised at about $280,000. The building has housed the center since August 1982.

Civic Center board member Henry Azuma has suggested the organization consider relocating to a smaller building that would be less costly to operate.

But Slaughter said the Broadway building would be hard to replace in terms of size.

Still, he acknowledged, the 12,000-square-foot building is in poor condition.

"You've got a roof that leaks; you have heating that goes out; you have plumbing that breaks. Because it is an old building, you are constantly patching on this sort of thing," said Slaughter.

"We are trying to find grants that can be written, find other sources of income," he said.

Pennington said it is the board's responsibility to generate funds, too.

But former board members said the Civic Center won't be able to secure grants without a full-time director.

Slaughter said he and others with the Civic Center simply misunderstood exactly what financial information the United Way board wanted.

But United Way board member Harry Rediger said there wasn't any misunderstanding. He said the United Way board had detailed its requests over and over again.

Pennington said the Civic Center has offered youth more than basketball. It has established a program to promote self-esteem in young women and is in the process of developing a garden on donated land on the city's south side.

Pennington said the center currently serves about 100 children.

He said he will continue to help the community's youth regardless of what happens to the Civic Center.

"I'm not running anywhere," he said.