The Salvation Army broke ground  today on The Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center for Augusta, Georgia! The impressive 85,000 sq. foot facility will be built on a 17+ acre campus and feature a social service center; arts, education and worship center; and an indoor aquatics and recreation center.

The Salvation Army’s Kroc Community Center in Augusta is part of a great vision held by Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. She desired to build state-of-the-art facilities in underserved communities throughout the nation with the highest quality recreational and arts facilities so that all children would have equal opportunities to build their natural gifts and talents. In 2003, Mrs. Kroc passed away, and entrusted to The Salvation Army the largest gift ever given to a private charity for the express purpose of building and endowing Kroc Centers. The first Kroc Center was completed in San Diego, California in 2001.

In keeping with the mission of The Salvation Army, The Kroc Center in Augusta will provide facilities, programs and services to encourage and enable children and adults, strengthen families, and enrich the lives of seniors.

Members of the Augusta area will hardly be able to wait until its anticipated 2011 opening! The facility will feature anything one could ever want. The recreation center will house a full size fitness center, as well as an aquatic center with waterslide, splash park, and lap lanes – perfect for exercise and play.

The arts, education, and worship center also has plenty to offer. In this center will be located The Salvation Army’s chapel, offices, 400-seat theater, and computer lab. There are also classrooms for education, art , dance, and music rehearsal. Drop-off childcare will also be offered with an outdoor playground for kids.  In addition, there is a 270-seat Banquet Center and teaching kitchen to enable job skills training.

Furthermore, a full continuum of services will be provided in the Kroc Center, including a food pantry, rent and utilities assistance, and VA services.

On top of these incredible features that will benefit the local community, the Kroc Center will create approximately 102 full-time and part-time jobs.

The Salvation Army is excited that construction on the Augusta Kroc Center has begun! For more information, visit The Salvation Army’s Southern Territory page here.

For more information on the Joan Kroc’s vision for The Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, visit The Salvation Army’s national website here.