Team to examine Kroc center plans

The final determination of whether Duluth will get the $50 million Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center is nearly at hand, according to the Duluth Salvation Army.

The Chicago-based Salvation Army team that makes the decision will in town Friday to visit the prospective construction site at Wheeler Field as well as to review project finances, the land deal and development and use agreements with the city of Duluth, the Salvation Army said today in a news release.

It will be six to eight weeks before the regional Salvation Army headquarters review team says whether Duluth will get $40 million for the project.

This is the first official word about the $20 million, 85,000-square-foot recreation and community center on Grand Avenue in West Duluth since early December. That's when the city committed $7.2 million and sold five acres at Wheeler Field for the project. Along with private donations, the local total match for the $30 million endowment is $10 million.

Salvation Army officials here and in Chicago have said they see no reason why Duluth will not get the Kroc Center.

The center, which will be owned and run by the Salvation Army, is expected to include:

--Eight-lane lap pool

--Zero-depth leisure pool and play area with two waterslides]

--Classrooms

--Computer lab

--Teen drop-in center

--Children's play center

--Gymnasium with two courts to accommodate basketball, volleyball, tennis and other sports

--Fitness center and track

--200-seat chapel and performing arts theater

--Food shelf

--Social services offices

--Administrative offices

Duluth residents will get to use the center for free or low cost for recreational leagues and at other limited times of the year because the city is a project partner. Construction is expected to begin this summer and last 18 months.

The Duluth Salvation Army is still looking for donations for the center as well as for existing programs, since the Kroc money can only be used to expand the Salvation Army's services. For more information, contact Maj. Mark Welsh 722-7934 or by e-mail at mark_welsh@usc.salvationarmy.org .