Members of the Army Navy Club are keeping their fingers crossed that they will be allowed to continue meeting where they have gathered for 52 years.

&#8220We generally decided that we hope we can stay where we are,” John Turner, secretary-treasurer, said this morning after the group had its monthly meeting Thursday night.

&#8220We want to talk to the mayor and aldermen,” Turner said.

The question of whether the three Quonset huts the Army Navy Club has used belong to the club or to the city came up this week when Turner received a call from a deputy in the City Clerk’s Office asking that the building keys be turned over to South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman.

The club was organized in 1937 by a group of military veterans and members of the Army Reserve and Mississippi National Guard as a way to help each other with correspondence courses they had to complete for promotions.

The meetings were held in a local restaurant and moved to a house on Rifle Range Road in the early 1940s. When the city wanted to trade the old rifle range land to Spencer Chemical in the mid-1950s, it agreed to allow the club to use land in City Park. The club brought in military surplus Quonset huts and put them on the land.

Since the Mississippi National Guard moved into its new building in Flowers, the city has been trying to consolidate all public works functions in City Park and wanted to use the Army Navy building for storage.

South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said this morning that city officials were still where they were earlier this week, researching city records for any mention of the buildings.

&#8220We will call a meeting with these guys and talk about it,” he said.