In a forlorn building at the heart of Oak Park, a stalled dream is gathering dust where as many as 400 impoverished children once thrived.

The Police Athletic League once was a refuge where children received tutoring, hot meals, recreation and adult guidance.

A few years ago, money dried up, bills continued to pour in, and efforts by City Council members, the police union and other charitable folks couldn't keep the padlock off.

"We got overwhelmed. I know people are unhappy, but everybody gave it our best shot," said Dave Topaz, former president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association.

Police athletic leagues have been around for more than 75 years, giving kids in most major cities and suburbs a place to go.

Since the Sacramento PAL closed almost three years ago, the remaining board members have juggled debt and struggled to revive the program.

"We no longer have insurance. We've lost two vans. We just have no political clout," said Tom Burruss, a board member and community activist.

Even a high-profile boost by Sacramento Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, who donated elbow grease and computers, games and a television in 2005, couldn't save PAL.

At the decrepit building, kids from the neighborhood played games, got help with their homework from McGeorge School of Law students, learned how to box, rode bicycles and worked on computers.

As a McGeorge student, Gavin Hughes helped children in fourth grade or younger with their homework, then went on to become a board member after he became a lawyer.

"It was fantastic because you knew it was the best individual attention they got all day," he said. "Some of these kids, the teachers didn't have patience with them. You had to sit them down and make them do their homework. You could see them learning how to learn," he said.

As a board member, Hughes admits the work to clear debts and get another substantial funding source is daunting.

Burruss can produce a flurry of papers that detail the travails: squabbles through e-mail, threats from bill collectors, and pleas to City Council members.

The debt hole was almost $80,000 deep at one time, a staggering amount that thwarted a takeover attempt by a separate foundation – the 911 Foundation. That foundation, which included Topaz and some City Council members, was never able to save PAL. When it dissolved, that left PAL board members to shoulder the debt, Burruss said.

A combination of negotiations and donations has reduced the debt to several hundred dollars in penalties to the state Franchise Tax Board, he said.

Several thousand dollars are in trust for the organization, he said. The board is also holding on to furniture and other equipment, including bicycles.

Besides losing key grants, the city-owned building on the edge of McClatchy Park where PAL was housed since 1985 is unsafe. It would cost $1.2 million to rehabilitate it properly, according to a 2004 estimate.

Just about everyone involved with PAL past and present agrees a city the size of Sacramento needs an after-school hangout for children who come from families with sometimes adversarial views of authority, particularly law enforcement.

"We want to see PAL come back to Oak Park," said City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, who represents the area.

After PAL closed nearly three years ago, homicides in the general area of the building rose in 2006, she said.

She senses a connection.

"It's rather obvious that quickly, this positive force was gone," Hammond said.

The building is not worth salvaging, nor does the city have the money to do it, she said. The city also doesn't have the money to build anew, even though long-range plans call for a teen center in the park, she said.

Burruss insists the building must be remodeled because the location is removed from busy streets, unlike other neighborhood alternatives such as a women's club that would force children to cross Broadway.

"If we go to another building, we won't serve the kids we want to serve. It will serve some kids, though," Burruss said.

Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel said he will work to ensure that PAL is reborn – one way or another.

"We need to get out and do this for those youths," said Braziel, who was elevated to his post in December.

He wants his department more deeply involved, offering incentives to officers who volunteer time.

He welcomes any efforts by the current board, but he envisions a flexible program that can reach beyond Oak Park with locations in south Sacramento and North Sacramento.

He, unlike Burruss, is also convinced that other buildings could house the programs, even schools unused in the afternoons.

Burruss steadfastly holds on to a revival for the old building

"I think the money is there … You just have to work for it," he said. "If the city wanted to put the emphasis on getting these kids a place, it would. The willpower doesn't seem to be there."

Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.