Kroc center all but done?

It seems like many on the Kroc center board feel it is a done deal. The applications was sent to Chicgo for final aproval from the Salvation Army. The board seems to think Duluth will get the okay with no problem as long as we agree to pay our small portaion of the project. This would be 7.2 million dollars of a 50 million dollar project.

Some councilors had questions a few weeks ago, and ones that need to be answeared before we move forward with this project I believe. Other councilors just don't like the project namly because of what the building looks like. Councilor Greg Gilbert holds issue with a cross on the out side of the CHAPLE building.

By the end of June, Duluth Salvation Army officials expect to overcome several sticking points with the city and move ahead with the proposed Kroc recreation and community center in West Duluth.


Maj. Mark Welsh and Kay Biga, chairwoman of the Duluth Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center advisory committee, made the predictions Tuesday during a meeting with the Duluth News Tribune's editorial board.
Salvation Army officials submitted their project application more than a week ago to their territorial bosses, who hold the purse strings for much of $50 million-plus construction, maintenance and operating costs. They said Duluth is almost a shoo-in for the center, which would be paid for by the McDonald's Restaurants fortune, as long as the city holds up its end.
However, the Duluth City Council still must finalize its previous $7.2 million pledge toward the 85,000-square-foot complex at Wheeler Field on Grand Avenue. Some councilors appear reluctant to finish the deal until they get a number of guarantees from the private Christian nonprofit.
"A lot of things don't happen until push comes to shove, and I think we're at that point now," Biga said.


Still unresolved, said City Attorney Bryan Brown, are contracts with the city of Duluth over shared facility use, a land sale, development agreement, constitutional issues and the replacement of current facilities that will be supplanted. He hesitated to put a timeline on the process but said the city and Salvation Army exchanged a draft use agreement last week.

There should be little consern about the land sale and land use these I believe will be easly worked out. What has become a sticking point for some councilors and citizens is what is going to happen with the tennise courts, along with the bocce and horse areas? This is a very fair question. Who will pay to move and or replace these areas that are used by many people.

"I think we've made significant progress," said interim Chief Administrative Officer Julio Almanza.


Councilors have expressed support for the project but recently questioned the budget, entrance fees, size of the cross on the building and whether non-Christians can hold meetings in the center's community rooms.

The Salvation Army made it very clear that the Kroc center will be opened to everyone regarless of your faith or lack of it. The only issue the Salvation Army has is if a group wnates to meet there that is anti salvation army. Then that group would not be allowed to meet at the Kroc center. That is more then lodical to me.

Welsh said the center will have a cross on the building but officials haven't decided where or how big it will be. As far as who can hold meetings in the complex, he said the Salvation Army hasn't written a policy yet, but he doesn't anticipate turning anyone away.