The Salvation Army
Phoenix South Mountain Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center
History and Background
Late in 2003, Joan Kroc, the widow of Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald's Corporation), gave The Salvation Army an estate gift in excess of $1.9 billion. This was the largest estate gift made by an individual in the history of charitable giving.
The purpose of this gift is to create grants to build state-of-the-art Youth and Recreation facilities across the United States. The Kroc Grant is awarded equally for capital improvements as well as endowment needs which will be used to offset operating costs.
In the spring of 2005, nineteen communities in the Western United States applied to receive a Kroc Center. The field was narrowed to eight cities in the fall of 2005 and Phoenix was one that was invited to submit a final application. On May 1, 2006 Phoenix was notified that it was one of six cities in the Western United States selected to receive a Kroc grant.
The Kroc Grant for Phoenix is $64 million: $32 million for capital improvements, and $32 million for endowment. A requirement for Phoenix to receive the Kroc Grant is that an additional $15 million in local contribution must be raised with $8 million being applied towards capital improvements and $7 million going towards endowment.
| Campaign Goal |
$15,000,000 |
| Capital Gifts |
$6,851,377 |
| Endowment Gifts |
$3,256,315 |
| Current Total |
$10,110,692 |
| Balance Needed |
$4,889,308 |
A Legacy Continues
Unlike other centers, the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Phoenix will enlarge and enhance existing programs currently being offered by The Salvation Army. The current facility, known as Phoenix South Mountain Corps and Community Center opened in 1968. The existing community center is located at Broadway and 14th Street in the heart of South Mountain on 12 acres of property and is approximately 43,000 square feet in size. The Center has been consistently serving the community for the past 40 years, mainly the youth population, with spiritual, athletic, and educational programs.
The proposed new Kroc Center will be approximately 130,000 square feet of building with additional sports utility fields and will concentrate on the following key areas as outlined in Mrs. Kroc's vision:
- Art
- Recreation
- Education
- Spiritual Guidance
- Wellness
It is the intention of The Salvation Army to be able to expand existing programs as well as introduce many new programs for all age groups, from young toddlers to senior citizens, and catering to entire families. Being located in a predominantly low to moderate income neighborhood in Phoenix, the Kroc Center will allow The Salvation Army to implement Mrs. Kroc's vision by providing at-risk individuals opportunities they would not otherwise have.
Based on the proposed design of the new Kroc Center, The Salvation Army will be able to continue with all of the current programs during the two year construction period for the new facility. The following sketches reflect the current conceptual design with the back and front elevations as well as a proposed site plan.
Current Status Update
The Phoenix Kroc Center project is expecting to complete the schematic design phase of the project in late November of 2008. Upon approval from Territorial Headquarters (THQ) in early December the project will move into the Design Development phase of the project. Based on our current schedule Phoenix is expecting to have the building permits issued in September/October of 2009. Early construction of a relocation of an existing underground irrigation system will commence in the summer of 2009 with building construction starting in the fall of 2009.
According to the requirements of THQ all cities receiving Kroc Grant money must raise 75% of the required local contributions before the Design Development phase of drawings can commence. Phoenix has been charged with raising $15 million dollars for its local contribution, which equates to $11.3 million dollars before Phoenix can start Design Development work. The local fund raising efforts have generated approximately $10 million dollars to date. The remaining balance of $3.7 million is required to be raised at least one year in advance of opening the Kroc Center doors to the general public.
The permitting and entitlement process should take approximately one year. Once the construction phase commences the construction work is scheduled to be completed within two years of the start. Assuming that the project continues to move forward without interruption, the Kroc Center should be open to the general public in the fall of 2011.
The current design created for the Phoenix Kroc Center wraps the new Kroc Center around the existing facility allowing The Salvation Army to continue providing services to the South Mountain community throughout construction of the Kroc Center. One of the stipulations of the Kroc Grant was that all Kroc Centers had to be new state of the art centers and renovating existing facilities was not an option. As such the existing South Mountain facility will be demolished upon the completion of the new Kroc Center.
If you would like to make a contribution or are interested in additional information regarding this world-class facility, please contact the Development Department by: