The city-financed program, in existence since 1991, was open to all middle school students in Saratoga. About 50 to 60 students, many of them from nearby Redwood Middle School, took advantage of the weekday program to hang out, listen to music, play pool and foosball or just do their homework at the house

A group of regulars gathered one last time after school on April 8.

"I cannot believe that this is the last day of the after-school program," said Kiersten Dolbec, a seventh-grader from Redwood. Dolbec said she liked the program because it was free and a lot of fun.

The last day's program included a performance by The Banished, a local rock group. Students commiserated with one another as they watched the band perform. Some said that they would try to raise money so that the after-school program could start up again.

"Most of all, I will miss the staff. They were like family," said Corey Rateau, an eighth-grader from Redwood.

The program had been on the chopping block ever since the city began to look at trimming its budget costs for the next fiscal year, which begins in July. The after-school program costs the city around $50,000 annually.

The Warner Hutton House will now be used as a rental facility to generate money for the city.

"We're going to use it for fee-generating programs," said Joan Pisani, the city's recreation director. The recreation department will also hold some of its classes there, according to city officials.

Pisani said that the after-school program at the Warner Hutton House was special because any middle school student living in the city could enroll.

Beverly Tucker, a recreation supervisor for the city, was in charge of the teen program when it first started in 1991.

"The house was empty. We worked with the youth commission to make it ready. The Rotary Club painted the outside," she said.

The Warner Hutton House, a 100-year-old Victorian-style house, was originally located on Sousa Avenue. In the early 1990s, the house was moved to its current location in the city's civic center complex on Allendale Avenue. The house was named a heritage landmark in 1995.

The house has a spacious living room, complete with couches and TV. The adjoining rooms have a pool table and foosball table. Students in the after-school program also had the option of doing their homework in a quiet study room or rustling up a quick snack in the kitchen.

"I will hope that the closure of the teen program is temporary," said Tucker.

"The best thing about the teen after-school program was that it was loosely defined. The kids could come here and just do their own thing," said Adam Henig, a recreation coordinator for the city.

Henig has been responsible for the teen program since December 2003. "The teenagers that come here are regular kids," he said. "We do not have a lot of high-achieving kids in this program. Many are from homes where both parents have long work hours."

"We're very upset," said Justin El-Diwany, an eighth-grader from Redwood, who has been a regular at the Warner Hutton House. "The city doesn't like us."

Kyle Umidon, another eighth-grader from Redwood, said that he is not sure how he will spend his after-school time from now on. "Maybe I'll just go hang out at the library. But I don't think they like us there either," he said. "I have nowhere to go."