What a great way to improve the area through volunteer programs and donations.
Salvation Army Maj. Bruce Jones said Monday he expects to break ground on the new Kroc Center in Harrisburg by year's end, likely in November or December.
Of the 77,000-square-foot aquatics center and social services complex's $87.8 million price tag, $67.8 million is coming from the Joan B. Kroc Foundation and the rest is being raised locally through a capital campaign. Maj. Jones, the Kroc Center director, said he'll announce Monday how much of the $20 million is lacking.
The complex is considered a key to redeveloping upper Broad Street, and city approval is more or less a formality at this point. The project sailed through the Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission on Monday and is expected to do the same when it goes before the Augusta Commission on May 19.
"We expect it will have a major redevelopment impact on the entire Harrisburg community," Maj. Jones told the planning commission.
The commission unanimously approved a special exception for the 16-acre site at the intersection of Broad and Eve streets, in addition to a zoning change from multiple-family residential to professional for about 11.5 acres near where Eve Street meets the Augusta Canal. Chairman Hank Griffin abstained because he's on the Salvation Army's board of directors.
Kroc centers are part of the vision of the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. Mrs. Kroc, who died in 2003, left a $1.5 billion endowment to establish such centers across the nation and chose the Salvation Army to help implement her plans.
The design for the Augusta Kroc Center includes a performing arts center, a community center, an indoor water park, a fitness center, classrooms and a culinary arts training kitchen. Historic homes on the site will be moved to form a "mill village" near the canal that will be used for offices.
A conceptual rendering of the main building shows a red-brick facade with a bell tower shaped similar to the nearby Confederate Powderworks chimney. On the drawing, a large Christian cross is affixed to the tower.
Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.
ONLINE EXTRA
Read the complete description of the Kroc Center project at the Augusta Salvation Army website at http://www.salvationarmyaugusta.com/kroc.cfm
Comments
What a great way to improve the area through volunteer programs and donations.
What will the membership fees be?
I don't even know what Harrisburg is but i'm tired of reading about the ppl talking about Harrisburg.
Harrisburg is an old milltown..many of the homes were built by the mill companies...sort of an intown version of Graniteville. The mills closed of course.. most of the people left. In came the druggies, generational welfare, alcoholics, etc, etc. Harrisburg was always a poor neighborhood, but it used to be a neighborhood where people worked and they took pride in what little they had.
It may have the potential to be Augusta's version of Atlanta's cabbage town, but Augusta doesn't have a huge pool of young single yuppies or professional gays who typically come in and gentrify these neighborhoods.
See mill villages elsewhere: www.hongkongaugustaga.org
"Augusta doesn't have a huge pool of young single yuppies or professional gays who typically come in and gentrify these neighborhoods." This is true but Evans has a large pool of yuppies who are trired of driving to Augusta every day to go to work.
Yeah, but the yuppies in Evans are couples with kids... try convincing them of moving to inner city Augusta and putting their kids in inner city AUgusta schools. The singles and the gays don't mind because they don't have kids, so schools are not such a concern.. But these groups tend to flee to the bigger cities.
I don't know but I always thought of the SA as a place where the downtroden could get a meal and a place to sleep out of the weather. I would never have guessed it would morph into an upscale YMCA type facility for the homeless. I wonder who will now provide shelter for people in need. Surely they won't put beds in the theatre or cook for the homeless in the cullinary arts kitchen.
HillGuy...Go to downtown Broad St and look at all of the upwardly mobile collage students going to the clubs and eateries. There is a great deal of potential that some of these upstarts will live in Harrisburg too.
Yeah, but the yuppies in Evans are couples with kids... try convincing them of moving to inner city Augusta and putting their kids in inner city AUgusta schools. The singles and the gays don't mind because they don't have kids, so schools are not such a concern.. But these groups tend to flee to the bigger cities.....There are many fine private schools close to Harrisburg. Episcopal Day, Augusta Prep, St Merry's, and Curtis Baptist, to name few.
The singles and the gays don't mind because they don't have kids, so schools are not such a concern.. But these groups tend to flee to the bigger cities....Singles and gays want to be close to goods and services. The Kroc will offer the best along with the canal development leading to the downtown business district. Midtown Augusta/Harrisburgs' future looks bright. Our neighborhood organizations will continue to help push the riff raff out of Harrisburg and educated landlords about making Harrisburg better. I don't know any lard lords who do not want their property to appreciate. Do you?
But why pay extra for private school when you have great public schools in Columbia County. Most ppl cannot afford private school, even the so-called yuppies in Columbia County, not to mention the crime issue in the area... it's not exactly a kid friendly area. Gentrification almost always starts with singles or childless professional cpls and gays. I'm just saying that Augusta does not have enough of this demographic to launch a full scale gentrification effort.
Well someone will have to go up to Atlanta, Charlotte and Greenville and convince them to move back to Augusta first.
What happened to the Gays? Are they all in Evans now or is it grovetown the new gay mecca?
People are moving from Atlanta, Charlotte, and Greenville to Augusta every month. Ain't life grand?
So is the goal to turn downtown the new hot gay spot? Will the Kroger center have gay saunas?
HillGuy,
I suspect that your screen name has nothing to do with your living in Summerville. Harrisburg might well offer you the status that you crave at a price that you can afford. Where do you really live...off of Peach Orchard Rd ?
Dissman - regarding your quote " I would never have guessed it would morph into an upscale YMCA type facility for the homeless." This is absolutely not the Kroc Center's client nor mission. The Salvation Army is a church whose most visible programs are the homeless services. However, TSA provides music programming, youth camps, education programming and other similar programs around the US and the world. The Kroc Center is an extension of this programming enabled by the gift of Joan Kroc. The existing homeless programming and location will not change - in fact it will be able to serve more people through the relocation of some administrative space to the Kroc Center. More details on Monday, please let me know what you think.
I have one complaint about the structure. Could it not have been made more modern looking? Why could it not have been something to add to the skyline of the city? It will look like a really long church. We need more tall buildings to downtown.
Slavvicthunder, i'ts KROC center, not Kroger. This is a community center for everyone. The Salvation Army does much more than collect from red kettles and care for the homeless. They minister to everyone, no matter what type of income you have. I hope Augusta will realize this soon.
The Kroc center will be different things to different people. It is like being blind folded and feeling an Elephant. It will be grand enough to accommodate the richest and the poorest....Just like McDonalds!
77,000-square-foot "aquatics center and social services complex'"...doesn't that sound odd?.....Come on in and apply for welfare.. then take a swim!
HillGuy...."I'm just saying that Augusta does not have enough of this demographic to launch a full scale gentrification effort." They already have ...look at the loft dwellers lving in the downtown business district. Gentrification makes places so much nicer.
Hill Guy...." full scale gentrification effort." hahaha gentrification is more upwardly people moving into a area that was inhabited with improvised people..You need to write a paper on what "full scale gentrification efforts are. ..haha you are so negative. But if that is the way that you see things I respect your opinion.
Sounds like a great idea.maybe now they will tear down some of the slum houses,get rid of the welfare and druggies.This is to SargentMidTown-I can talk about Peach Orchard Road cause I live off it.So why dont you just worry about Harrisburg.I must also add that most of my neighbors were out this past weekend cutting and cleaning their yards.We still have the best street.Harrisburg has alot of raciast people comeing out of it.I work with them.They are the ones who wont goverment assistants.But were yelling about the police shooting that man.I think I heard them yelling he aint bad never did nothing wrong.That they wont the police to leave them alone.We wont the police in our neighborhood.Just please slow down and not just use our road as the cut threw to HWY-56.I still like most of our police and try to have respect for all of them.But some need an attitude ajustment.That being said I like that you care for Harrisburg and wont to make it a better place to live.But dont throw stones when you live in a glass house.
Why do we need a Kroger this big. Most of the other krogers suit me just fine.
If all of these ppl are moving back to Augusta, how come its population is less than what it was in 2000? Whereas metro Atlanta is still growing by leaps and bounds. More ppl leave Augusta for places like Atlanta then the other way around.
HillGuy ..Do I defect bitterness in your tone? Do you envy those young people who live their sexual lives in big metropolitan cities? Do you feel that time has passed you by....that you have been left behind? Fear not. Transcend the earthly things to those things spiritual. Come and join us in the Harrisburg community garden. Embrance life, love, growth and giving.
I was out in the HB area the other day and noticed the old Harris House has been shut down by the city. Can someone tell me why the city dosen't run it anymore. It was and is a very old structure and an assett to the neighborhoos. Maybe the neighborhood association could find the money to reopen it and run it.
The Kroc Center will transform Harrisburg. Now is the time to invest in property You can buy a lot for very little. Harrisburg will become a tax jewel for the city of Augusta. Transformation is already taking place. I have a beautiful Victorian home, an in ground pool, a motion security system that alerts me when anyone is in my yard, and a permit to carry a concealed weapon. I planned well, while I wait on this area to quadruple in value. All of my friends continue to come from Evans and Columbia County to enjoy all that downtown Augusta has to offer. Harrisburg is going to be a sought after place to live. It's just a matter of time. Come join us!
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
