Elliott Suh, right, leans on para-educator Jenny Schwering during lunch Wednesday at East Heights Early Childhood Center, 1430 Haskell Ave. The Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence is interested in using the East Heights building after the early-childhood programs move to Kennedy School next year.

The Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence has expressed interest in using the school district’s East Heights building after the early-childhood programs move into Kennedy School next school year.

“Obviously with our mission of providing before- and after-school programs in collaboration with the school district, we believe that we could utilize that facility to expand our main site,” executive director Janet Murphy said.

Lawrence Superintendent Rick Doll said administrators have talked about the school building at 1430 Haskell Ave. with Murphy and Al Hack, board president for the Boys and Girls Club. Murphy said her board has expressed interest in either leasing or purchasing East Heights.

“We’re having preliminary discussions now at the administrative level deciding if they’re interested, how much of the building they are interested in, and whether it would be a lease, purchase, lease-purchase, or any of those,” Doll said.

Board members on March 9 approved $4.6 million in budget cuts for next year, including moving early-childhood programs at East Heights into Kennedy School. The school board would have to make a final decision on either selling East Heights or allowing the club to use it.

Murphy said the Boys and Girls Club could move some of its after-school elementary programs into East Heights from their main site, 1520 Haskell Ave.

“A school district facility is ideal for us,” Murphy said. “It’s already designed for children.”

She said using East Heights could allow the Boys and Girls Club to consolidate its junior high programs under one roof at 1520 Haskell Ave. The club serves about 1,200 Lawrence children and teenagers in all its programs.

East Heights operated as an elementary school until board members closed it in 2003 and converted it into the early-childhood center.

“The administration, we’re enthusiastic about the possibility of the building continuing to be used primarily by an organization that serves kids,” Doll said. “It seems like a natural fit.”