March 25, 2005

Evergreen in contention for Salvation Army /
Ray and Joan Kroc Foundation funded community center

By Bea Baechle
Editor

You could call it a dream come true, an answer to a prayer, a gift.

The Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego is an example of what Evergreen could expect if San Jose wins the competition for a similar structure. This community center houses a 600-seat theatre, three pools, an ice arena and much more.

Evergreen has an opportunity to once again house a local ice arena—and much, much more—thanks to the vision of philanthropist Joan Kroc, wife of the founder of McDonald’s restaurant company.

Raised in Minnesota, Kroc once dreamed of being an Olympic figure skater, but her parents did not have the resources to pay for the extensive training that would require. When she gifted the Salvation Army more than $1.5 billion in her estate, she entrusted it to build and operate 20 community centers around the county—preferably, with an ice rink included.

She requested that five community centers be built to serve low-income areas in each of four regions across the country. Enter San Jose in the Western region.

Major Douglas Tollerud, Santa Clara County Coordinator for the Salvation Army, felt that as the tenth largest city in the country, San Jose should be included in the grant process competition for the community centers to be built in the West. The grant would provide about $50 million to build a community center and matching funds in an endowment to support the Salvation Army’s operation of it.

Working with city officials, Tollerud looked at more than 25 potential sites in San Jose that could provide about 12 acres of land to house the community center. The preferred site was originally Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course in East San Jose, but Councilmember Nora Campos did not want the site in her district. Enter Evergreen.

ESD passes resolution
On March 21, the Evergreen School District held a public hearing to listen to the Salvation Army’s proposal and gather input from the community regarding the possible use of vacant land next to LeyVa Middle School for a community center similar to the one constructed in San Diego in 2002.

Major Douglas Tollerud, Santa Clara County Coordinator for the Salvation Army, feels that San Jose has a good chance of winning, given that it’s the tenth largest city in the country.

Tollerud described the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego. The center offers an ice arena, gymnasium, aquatics complex, a recreation field, a rock climbing tower and challenge course. In addition, residents can take advantage of a fitness center, Salvation Army Corps Church programs, a 600-seat theatre for the performing arts, a school of visual and performing arts, a teaching/mentoring area and computer lab, an Internet-based library and a diverse schedule of programs and services.

Most residents fully supported moving forward with at least a feasibility study to see if the site would work. Given the displacement of 1,000 skaters and hockey players per month when the Eastridge Ice Arena closed last April, hockey supporters welcomed the possibility of an ice arena in the area.

Khoa Nguyen of the Vietnamese-American Business Association spoke of the value of having a theater for the many cultural performances from his community. Soccer supporter Mel Dutra supported the potential for soccer fields on the site.

Lou Kvitek, president of the Silver Creek Valley Community Organization and member of the Evergreen Visioning Task Force, pointed out the potential of funneling money originally designated for a community center on the Arcadia opportunity site into building new schools.

Members of the West Evergreen Strong Neighborhood Initiative, however, felt blindsided by this rush to make a decision, given the four years they’ve worked on planning a community center in their area. West Evergreen Neighborhood Association President Carlos Da Silva supported the LeyVa site only as a back-up plan to the other site in consideration: a split location at Fair Middle and Santee Elementary schools, one block away from each other each other in the Franklin-McKinley School District.

Councilmember Dave Cortese explained the urgency of the situation. Until three weeks ago, Evergreen wasn’t even in the running, and feasibility applications are due April 4. Without at least a nod to conduct a feasibility plan, Evergreen won’t even be considered as a potential site.

On March 21, the Evergreen School District held a public hearing to listen to the Salvation Army’s proposal, as well as gather input from the community regarding the possible use of vacant land next to LeyVa Middle School for a community center similar to the one constructed in San Diego in 2002, pictured above and below.

Several members of the LeyVa Community Action Team also expressed concern that the land for the community center would eliminate the fields used by LeyVa Middle School, but ESD Board President Jeff Fischer assured them that this would not be the case.

In the end, the Evergreen School District’s board of trustees adopted the resolution expressing support for the KROC Center Feasibility Application.

City Council endorses bid
The next day, March 22, the San Jose City Council endorsed the Salvation Army’s bid to build a $50 million community center to serve San Jose’s low-income families. The council’s resolution supported both the Evergreen site and the Story Road/McLaughlin site, leaving it up to the Salvation Army to nominate a site.

“Evergreen is our first choice,” said Tollerud after the council decision. “As much as the need is in the Fair Middle and Santee Elementary school area, there are houses between the two sites and no roads to access a facility of this size.”

By April 4, Evergreen will be in competition with 29 other Salvation Army chapters throughout the West for a multimillion-dollar construction grant.

“I think we have a very good chance of getting a community center in San Jose,” he added. In six months, the Salvation Army will announce the winners and issue up to $1 million to put together a design and environmental impact schedule. Construction could begin in 2006 with a center up and running in 2007 if San Jose wins.

	An aerial view (left) and close-up look at the architecture of the San Diego center.