After four months of daily labor by contractor ScarbroughConstruction LLC, of Roxie, work on the Boys and Girls Club ofLincoln County building is drawing to a close.

Company owner Jan Scarbrough said most of the major work on thebuilding has been completed, and his crew is now in the mopping upstages. The project should be finished by the end of May.

“The construction is coming along just fine,” Scarbrough said.”We should be able to wrap it up in a couple of weeks.”

The project, which required approximately $307,000 of a $350,000federal grant, has left the building with significant improvements,including a new roof, concrete floor, three new classrooms,bathrooms and plumbing, air conditioning, windows and doors andseveral other improvements.

The first and most crucial element of the renovation, from astability standpoint, was the installation of the new roof, whichScarbrough said required more than $60,000 of the project’s budget.Before, the roof was rotting and leaking badly during rain,threatening the rest of the building’s livelihood.

“If it weren’t for these improvements, the building would haverotted to the ground,” said Lincoln County Chancery Clerk TillmonBishop, who was part of a county delegation that sought and securedthe grant for the building’s renovation during a visit toWashington, D.C., years ago. “The roof was just in desperate shape.The new one is an incredible improvement – they’re getting a lot ofwork done down there.”

Brookhaven Police Department Capt. Bobby Bell, who serves aspresident of the club’s board of directors, said he loved what hesaw in a recent visit to the building to inspect the work. Bell wasso impressed by the building’s rebirth that he is consideringstarting a new program to allow the elderly to enjoy its newcapabilities during the morning hours.

“I want them to be able to come to the building in the morningso they can visit, drink coffee together, play bingo – do whateverthey want to do,” he said. “I want the club to be accessible toeverybody.”

Bell said the program for the elderly is still being planned,and anyone who wishes to volunteer or participate may contact himat (601) 833-5535.

While details are being ironed out for the elderly program, Bellis also preparing for the reopening of the club, which is scheduledfor sometime in mid June. While no date has been set, Bell isplanning a grand opening ceremony for club parents and countyofficials to inspect the building’s new features.

“It’s just to thank everybody that supported the building andhelped to get the grant,” Bell said of the ceremony. “It was a longtime coming, and I prayed for it and prayed over it – and it’shere.”

Bell’s prayers were likely joined by those of club parents,whose children have been without their normal activities in theclub since it closed for renovations during the Christmas holidays.Attempts to find another facility to host the club wereunsuccessful, and parents who normally send their children to theboys and girls club after school each day have been forced to findother means of supervision for the duration of this school year’ssecond semester.

“This was something I had no control over – it wasdisappointing,” said Bell, who made a last ditch effort to move theclub to a facility operated by the Brookhaven School District. “Itwas tough, but it let the community know how important the club isto their particular families, because the parents have had to beresponsible for finding a place for their children in the afternoonwhile they’re still at work.”

Bell said the full benefits of the renovations would berecognized this fall during the 2008/2009 school year, whenafter-school tutoring at the club commenced inside the newclassrooms. Bell said the new classrooms would be utilized todivide the club into age groups to better focus on school work.

“It’s going to help a lot academically – it’s difficult to havedifferent age groups all together,” he said. “When you separatethem, you can control the atmosphere and have kids dealing withtheir own age groups. It’s hard for a 15- or 16-year-old kid to bein the same room with a 6-year-old and enjoy the same thing -that’s not gonna happen.”

Mamie Martin Elementary School Principal Danita Hobbs, whoserved as chairwoman of the now-defunct Competitive CommunityProgram that was crucial in securing the building for use by theboys and girls club years ago, agreed with Bell’s assessment. Shepointed out that not only the classrooms, but the building’snewness, would foster improvement in the club.

“Kids usually do well in a new building, and we’re excited tohave it,” she said. “We send many of our students here at MamieMartin to that program each afternoon. All children needencouragement and a helping hand, and the boys and girls clubprogram provides that.”