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Mayor Beverly O'Neill shares the city's excitement about the new Long Beach KROC Center.
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City of Long Beach selected as site of Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center
The Salvation Army USA Western Territory announced today that the city of Long Beach was selected as the site of a new 19-acre Salvation Army Ray and Joan KROC Corps Community Center. It will be located at the corner of PCH and Walnut, across the street from Long Beach City College and is one of six Centers in the Western Territory that will be built to provide family support, educational, recreational and cultural arts activities for members of the community. The other cities selected for KROC Centers include: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Honolulu, Hawaii; Phoenix-South Mountain, Arizona; Salem, Oregon; and San Francisco – Tenderloin, California.
In 2004, Mrs. Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, gave The Salvation Army an estate gift in excess of $1.5 billion for the exclusive purpose of building KROC Centers in many communities across the United States. None of the gift can be used for existing programs, services or administrative costs. The Long Beach facility is set to break ground in 2007 and open in 2009. Mrs. Kroc believed in community collaboration and wanted The Salvation Army to work with the communities selected and involve them in fund-raising additional money for construction and operating dollars.
Numerous Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters from around the country presented proposals to
The Salvation Army KROC Selection Committee, a process that started in September of 2004. The application process was very competitive and site selections were made based on the following criteria: how well the proposals advance The Salvation Army’s mission to meet human needs in Christ’s name; implement Mrs. Kroc’s vision to give kids opportunities they would not otherwise have; enhance under-served communities; cost-effectively develop high-quality KROC Centers; and provide the best opportunity for long-term sustainability.
“Countless hours of thought and planning went into the development of our KROC proposal and we have so many people to thank for our success,” said Majors Paul and Carol Seiler, Divisional Leaders for The Salvation Army Southern California. “We are grateful to our community partners and to Mrs. Kroc for the opportunity to continue working together to make our KROC Center a place where kids and adults can grow and learn and be the person God made them to be.”
The 19-acre Salvation Army Ray and Joan KROC Corps Community Center in Long Beach will include:
- an education, arts, and cultural complex, supported by a library, computer resource center, classrooms, auxiliary spaces, social spaces, a chapel and an auditorium;
- a state-of-the-art aquatics center with three pools; a four-court gymnasium with an elevated jogging track, and an extensive weight and fitness area;
- an administrative and family resource center that will include a drop-in day care component to serve families who are using the Center’s resources;
- a series of outdoor spaces which consist of field space for active (soccer, football, little league baseball, etc) and passive activity (picnic), along with an amphitheater for larger scale outdoor cultural events. Additionally, low key walking paths for community members to enjoy with their families will be designed in the context of street and neighborhood environments.
NOTE: Traditional social service programs that The Salvation Army is noted for such as homeless feeding and emergency family services are not part of this Center and individuals seeking such assistance will be referred to the Army’s existing programs throughout the city and surrounding areas.
“Joan Kroc’s clear vision for the facilities to be developed with her funds was that each Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center provide opportunities for underserved young people, families and individuals to develop their potential through vigorous and rich participation in education, recreation, the arts and other activities. The City of Long Beach also recognizes this vision as compatible and analogous with our own vision to enhance opportunities for the underserved within our community,” said Beverly O’Neil, Mayor of the City of Long Beach.
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