Granted, it'll be tough

We're not absolutely certain it will happen, whom it will involve or how much money it will encompass.

But perhaps nothing in recent memory has the potential to so unify Augusta.

And why not? Everybody wins if the local Salvation Army is successful in securing $15 million or more of McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc's titanic $1.5 billion gift to the national charity.

Her estate made the money available to the national Salvation Army many months ago, and time is running out to claim it. But a coalition of social service agencies and public officials in Augusta Friday announced a concerted, cooperative effort to apply for an unspecified amount of Kroc funds to build an ambitious inter-agency campus in the Harrisburg area by the Augusta Canal and Broad Street.

It is all very tentative: It will take two or three months just to put the package together, and perhaps a year to complete the plans. Augustans must also raise funds that the Kroc money will match 2-for-1.

But if it all comes together, the Chafee Park area would see four facilities:

- a new Boys and Girls Club;

- a Salvation Army worship center;

- an education and performing arts center;

- and a consolidated complex of various area social service agencies delivering one-stop shopping for those of us in need - two blocks from the bus stop.

"It has to be accessible," says Maj. James Hall, local Salvation Army commander.

Up to 20 agencies, public and private, could locate at the Kroc campus, obviating the need for our neediest neighbors - many of whom are "transportationally challenged" anyway - from having to travel all over town to get the help they need to live.

There are a great number of obstacles to overcome, obviously. Land must be assembled - and while the city owns much of the land in question, some 17 to 25 homes also may be in the way. The Augusta Canal's ambience must be preserved. And a great number of private and public officials must work in concert to get this done.

And, of course, the local money must be raised and the national grant-makers must agree to join in.

We also have to hope the train hasn't already left the station: Competition for the money is fierce and beginning to wind down. There's no time to waste.

Still, if we can do it, whatever we raise locally will be matched 2-for-1 by the national Salvation Army. One-third would be used for construction, while two-thirds is set aside as an operational endowment to help make the campus self-sustaining.

It's worth every bit of effort. We'd be crazy not to go for it. And besides, if this were easy, it wouldn't require so much teamwork.

That need for unity, as much as anything, may be the most enduring legacy left here by the Krocs.