[Johnny Ryall]

Funds in place for Salvation Army's new Kroc Center
Construction could begin in January for facility near fairgrounds
By Amos Maki

The Salvation Army announced Tuesday that it has raised the $25 million in private funds it needed to trigger a $60million match from the Kroc Foundation for a new community and recreation complex in Midtown. The money will finance both the construction of the community center near the Mid-South Fairgrounds and a permanent endowment for its operation. “The hope really is that it brings people together from the different communities around Memphis,” said Stephen Carpenter, director of operations for the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center. “... It’s really about building relationships and having a place where people can learn and be active.”

Memphis was selected in 2005 as one of 25 U.S. cities to receive a matching gift from the Ray and Joan Kroc Trust to build a Kroc Center. The 15-acre facility site, just south of Central on East Parkway, was purchased for $1.62 million from the city of Memphis in 2007. Demolition work to remove asphalt and other infrastructure on the site has already begun. The 100,000-square-foot facility will include arts, education, recreation and worship components, with soccer fields, basketball courts, a fitness center, an aquatic center and a 300-seat space for performing arts and chapel services. The Salvation Army hopes to break ground on the center in January or February, and construction is expected to take 15 months, Carpenter said.

“I’m really excited about them breaking ground so people can really see how awesome it is,” said Sutton Mora-Hayes, executive director of the Cooper Young Development Corp., based in the neighborhood just west of the Kroc Center site. In addition to providing the city with a recreational and gathering space, the Kroc Center will create full-time and part-time jobs that organizers say will put $2million to $3 million into the Memphis economy annually. The Kroc Center will be part of the city’s overall fairgrounds redevelopment plan to create a $175 million multipurpose space, with athletic facilities, shopping, parks and housing. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Robert Lipscomb, city director of Housing and Community Development, said Tuesday when he learned the Salvation Army’s $25 million goal had been reached. “It’s a tribute to their hard work and the whole project.”

Last year, city officials chose a plan backed by real estate developer Henry Turley to develop the area into a center for retail, entertainment and other purposes. But disagreements over fees have slowed that project, leading Lipscomb to consider alternatives. Currently, the city is meeting with other groups to formulate a vision for the site. “We’re trying to meet with every neighborhood group out there,” said Lipscomb. “Every time we meet with a group, we get a new idea.”