CIVIC CENTER NEEDED

The Area Wide United Way is on the right track in seeking detailed financial records from the Cape Girardeau Civic Center. It can be assumed that the United Way, which solicits donations from thousands of area residents and businesses each year and then doles out the proceeds to a number of qualifying agencies, expects the same kind of fiscal accountability from each of the organizations it assists.

The United Way had planned this year to give $35,000 spread over four payments to the Civic Center, on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau. But in late May, the United Way board pulled the plug because Civic Center officials hadn't provided detailed financial statements or information on the center's youth programs. The United Way's action came after it already had paid out $17,500 to the Civic Center in two payments.

The United Way board thought long and hard before cutting off funding. It gave Civic Center officials plenty of warning, putting the center on probation as long ago as December 1993. The Civic Center depends almost entirely on United Way funding for its operations. That is a major reason why United Way officials waited so long before stopping payments.

But the United Way should and must demand that the agencies it funds provide detailed financial records, particularly when thousands and thousands of dollars are involved. The credibility of the United Way depends on assuring the many individuals and businesses who contribute to it that the agencies it funds are spending their money wisely.

Several members of the Civic Center's board of directors have resigned in recent months over what they perceive as poor management at the Civic Center. To their credit, the center's president, Ed Slaughter, and Fred Pennington, a former board member who helped manage the center on a part-time basis, have devoted countless hours to the Civic Center, as have others connected with the organization over the years. But the center has clearly floundered without a full-time director. Its last full-time director, Calvin Bird, resigned two years ago.

There is a real question as to whether the Civic Center can afford a full-time director on a $35,000-a-year allocation from the United Way. But either through volunteers or a full-time director, the center needs to get a handle on its finances.

It also needs to develop more programs. Lately, it has become little more than a place for youngsters to play basketball. But the at-risk youth served by the Civic Center need to be doing more than just shooting hoops. The Civic Center can help them develop academic skills through tutoring programs, for example.

Cape Girardeau needs a solid Civic Center that can deliver necessary programs. That only will happen when the Civic Center gets itself into sound financial shape.