KROC GroundBreaking

Salvation Army Places Final Steel Beam on Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center
May 12, 2011

In front of a crowd of hundreds of cheering neighborhood residents and supporters, The Salvation Army celebrated the placement of the final steel beam today on the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center at a dramatic Topping Off Ceremony in West Pullman.  The ceremony marked the first opportunity for neighbors and supporters to take guided tours of the Kroc Center.  The building is three quarters of the way through construction, and all of the walls and the roof are up.  When it opens in the Spring of 2012, The Kroc Center will include the largest array of sports, arts, educational and supportive programs anywhere in the city. 

“More than 200 people will work on this construction site at some point in this project, and The Kroc Center will create another 200 permanent jobs after it opens,” said Lt. Col. Ralph Bukiewicz, Metropolitan Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army.  “For me, this  represents so much more than the completion of a building. Like this steel beam, the Kroc Center will be a source of support, strength and stability for this community.  It will connect us and bind us together. It will inspire all those who enter to reach for the sky, to aim ever higher.”

Local elementary school children dedicated a time capsule of their own creation, filled with personal mementos of what the Kroc Center means to them.  During the ceremony, local community residents added their signatures to the steel beam and dropped notes into the time capsule.  The time capsule will be buried in the Kroc Center courtyard.

“I am putting a life preserver in the Capsule to represent how The Salvation Army saves lives,” said Ariel Taylor, 14, a student at Higgins Community Academy who learned how to swim at Salvation Army camp.  “When this capsule is opened in 50 years, and we pull out this life preserver, the kids attending the Kroc Center will all know how to swim.  Maybe there will even be a banner on the wall of an Olympian swimmer who had their start in this Kroc Center.”

Hundreds of Supporters and Dignitaries Gather to Break Ground on Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Chicago
October 10, 2011

An enthusiastic crowd of about 500 people gathered on a beautiful fall day on a 32-acre construction site on the South Side of Chicago to break ground on the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley both spoke passionately about their support for the Kroc Center and The Salvation Army. Commissioners Carol Seiler and Paul R. Seiler represented the Central Territorial Headquarters for the 11 Midwestern States at the event, held Thursday, October 7.

It was a grand celebration in Salvation Army signature style, with crowd-pleasing performances by The Kroc Singing Company and Brass Ensemble. But it was the kids who stole the show. Several children who participate in Kroc Corps music and sports programs spoke straight from their hearts about how The Salvation Army had made a difference in their lives and their hopes for the future Kroc Center.

Online Photos