By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CLIFTON - Cincinnati officials hope to have the burned-out Clifton Community Center up and running again in the spring, but rebuilding may take so long that summer programs would be canceled.

Being closed "a year would make it very stressful," said Dale Doerman, the Cincinnati Recreation Commission's service area coordinator for Clifton. "If it takes that long, I don't see how we could have a summer program.''

That would leave hundreds of parents scrambling for alternatives to the Clifton summer day camp.

An Oct. 19 fire destroyed the McAlpin Avenue facility's offices and caused extensive smoke and water damage to much of the rest of the building that city officials estimate could cost $250,000 to fix.

Since the fire, hundreds of children and adults have been shifted to other nearby neighborhood recreation centers for athletic leagues, creative arts classes, club activities and after-school care.

Doerman estimated that it could be four months to a year before the Clifton center is ready for occupancy again - a year if the recreation commission goes through a lengthy bidding process to hire contractors for the work; four months if city council allows the commission to hire contractors without bids as an "emergency" project.

But, Doerman said, other city recreation centers would have a tough time absorbing Clifton's summer day camp children. Most centers run their own summer programs, and many maintain waiting lists for spots, giving preference to former attendees.

Jay Moskovitz, whose two children have attended Clifton's summer program, said he and his wife would be left high and dry if the work is not completed by summer.

"I don't know what we'd do; we'd have to find some alternative," said the North Avondale man. "I wish they would decide how long this is going to take. We're really in limbo right now."

Clifton Town Meeting, the neighborhood council, has sent a letter to the city manager and council members asking them to put the rebuilding "on the fast track."

"The longer this goes on, the worse it is going to get," said Clifton Town Meeting president Pat Borders. "We've got parents schlepping their children all over town."

Meanwhile, Clifton's pottery program - one of the few among city rec centers - remains homeless because other centers do not have such equipment. Doerman said he is trying to organize a potluck supper and pottery firing for the class next month at Dunham Recreation Center.

"We feel like we need to do something for those folks," said Doerman. "They are missing each other as much as they miss their pottery."

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com