Life Without City's Pals

Police Athletic League Centers Close Today, Some To Be Reborn, But Many Complain That It Won't Be The Same

Mosley's son, Sean, grew up in Rosemont and shot his first basketballs with the help of an officer at the PAL Center. Sean is now heading into his sophomore year as a starter for the University of Maryland Terrapins.

Durden spoke to a Baltimore Sun reporter about 12:30 p.m. Monday and said she is interested in Mosley's proposal but warned it would have to include not only running the rec center, but all the costs associated with building upkeep. "Discussions haven't happened as quickly as we would have liked," she said. "We're open to have someone run it, but when we say run it, we mean all of the operating and management costs. ... It has to be the whole kit and caboodle."

Mosley said the city should at least maintain the building. But that's something for a discussion that, at that point, two days before the official turnover and 21/2 months after the first public meeting in which rec officials promised to help, hadn't happened.

At 1:30 p.m. Monday, Mosley said a representative from Rec and Parks had scheduled a meeting July 9 with Durden and him. Mosley said three hours later that Rec and Parks had called to reschedule the meeting for July 15.

But that won't stop Rosemont from officially closing today, and Mosley said he already sees kids hanging around with nothing to do. Back at her office, Durden said she's eager to show off all the new programs her staff designed for what used to be PAL centers.

"Everyone is all-hands-on-deck and working feverishly to make sure the transitions is smooth and that the kids have some great summer programming," the director said.

Rick Mosley is still waiting.