When the Rose City Boys and Girls PAL Club opened last month officials hoped to serve as many as 100 or 150 young people, once word spread and summer’s boredom settled over North Little Rock.

On the first day, about 300 children and teens showed up to splash in the swimming pool, battle for bragging rights on the billiards table and take part in dozens of organized activities.

So many have come that the center on Rose Lane has run out of membership applications.

It boasts about 520 members ranging from 5 to 18 years old, up from fewer than 50 members this time last year, before the Boys & Girls Club and Police Athletic League took over management of the old Parks and Recreation Department building. Officials say the three-way partnership is unusual, and that the Boys & Girls Club and Police Athletic League pairing is one of only a handful in the country.

Delighted with the turnout, officials are scrambling to fill a demand much bigger than they anticipated, and struggling with a slashed budget and a 32-yearold building.

The center expected about $150,000; instead, it received about $65,000, officials said.

The Police Athletic League and Boys & Girls Club each contribute $10,000 to the center, and the North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department contributes $45,000, said Mike Neuhofel, area director of the Boys & Girls Club. Other income comes from the $5 membership fees, a small indoor snack stand and vending machines.

"The need is great out here, and the opportunity is great," Neuhofel said. "That’s the perfect situation."

Almost. When something goes wrong with the building — the air conditioning poops out or the electrical system goes haywire — kids are disappointed by the dozen. Last week, a sewer backup forced the center to close for two days.

"Every day we have something else fall short or break down," Neuhofel said.

A weight room goes largely unused, and a rock-climbing wall sits packaged in Neuhofel’s office because the center doesn’t have enough people to supervise the climbing.

But what the center has seems more than enough for its patrons.

"Before I came here I used to hang around the house and sit on the couch and be bored," said Chevis Allen, 12, of North Little Rock. "I like to play games and buy candy and clean up around the club."

Chevis calls the center’s membership secretary, Latresha Madison, "one of my best friends."

Madison said, "We see the kids every day and really try to have relationships with them, know what’s going on in their lives. We try to make it more than just free time up here."

Friday field trips take young people to places such as Wild River Country in North Little Rock and the Museum of Discovery in downtown Little Rock.

The center’s above-ground pool, donated by Splash Pools Spas & More, is a favorite on hot days.

A curtain divides the gym’s basketball court in half, giving older players and younger ones their own space. There’s a threehole golf course, a playground with a slide and merry-go-round and tennis courts.

Four large mounds of dirt at the center soon will be used to level ground for a football field. The football team started practice Tuesday.

"It’s a good time here every day," said Anthony Walton, 11, of Little Rock.

Children can learn, among other things, martial arts, fishing and archery. Some study photography and are learning to develop their own black-and-white pictures.

"It’s tight," said Jasmine Moses, 11, of North Little Rock. "It’s fun. They let you go in the dance room and dance."

Senior citizens visit the center in the morning and work with the children on craft projects. At a lab in progress down the hall, children will be able to take apart broken computers and learn what makes the functional ones work.

On a typical day, the center teems with kids begging to show someone that they can duck their heads underwater or write their names in cursive.

"They don’t know you from Adam, but they’ll give you a hug. There’s just a lot of kids in need of attention," said police officer Steve Nail, a school resource officer at North Little Rock High School’s west campus.

Nail and police officer Scott Yielding are assigned to the center for the summer.

The center held a kickoff barbecue in early June and plans to hold a grand opening July 26. The partnership has transformed the center and the neighborhood.

When they began cleaning the site in April, staff filled a trash bin over and over again. Neuhofel said he threw away one book whose title showed its age: The Innovative Use of Ether in Medicine. Now, new, donated books are on the way.

Workers swear police officers poked their heads in the door after the center opened, wondering what happened to all the kids who used to roam the streets.

"The potential is just unlimited with what we can do and the impact it will have on the community," said police Capt. Kathy O’Kelley, chairman of the combined Boys & Girls Club and Police Athletic League boards. "I don’t think anybody expected this kind of turnout."

The center’s goal is to give children a safe place to burn off energy, find mentors and learn without feeling like they’re in school, Neuhofel said. He said the unexpected attendance is a great problem to have.

"Now we’ve just got to keep ’em here," he said.