City works on proposal for Kroc grant

There is no building big enough to hold all the dreams locals have for how to fill a community center.

But that didn’t stop about 80 people Thursday night from filling yellow legal pads with scribbled suggestions – ideas that will help Coeur d’Alene with its application for a $20 million Salvation Army community center.

“It’s blatantly obvious this community has a whole realm of needs,” said resident and swim coach Bob Wood after the participants in the city’s brainstorming session at the Coeur d’Alene High School library finished ticking off the list of wants that ranged from a compost center and an indoor soccer field to a meeting place for veterans groups. One man joked the only things not listed were a shoeshine and a haircut.

And those needs are exactly what Mayor Sandi Bloem hopes will help Coeur d’Alene snag one of the Salvation Army grants. Coeur d’Alene is the only Idaho town competing against 12 other cities, such as Tacoma, Seattle and Phoenix, for about seven Kroc Center grants.

Coeur d’Alene has no community center, public pool, Boys or Girls Club or YMCA. Bloem said that will help, not to mention that there is no Salvation Army presence. The area also has a large population of people who are poor or at-risk.

“This is better (odds) than playing the lottery but we have a lot of work ahead,” Bloem told the crowd that broke into four groups to come up with suggestions for how the building should look and what kind of programs would be offered.

McDonald’s heiress Joan B. Kroc bestowed $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army – the largest donation ever given to a charity – to build community centers modeled after the $50 million Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego.

Coeur d’Alene decided this week that its Kroc Center would be built on 12 acres just south of Ramsey Park, if the city is chosen.

The site is close to schools and homes, has easy access from Interstate 90 and connects into local bike and pedestrian trails. The city’s urban renewal agency, Lake City Development Corporation, already owns the property.

The grant application is due Feb. 15, so three grant writers are looking for all the ammunition possible to make sure Coeur d’Alene scores high enough to get a grant, totaling between $20 million and $25 million. The award would include an endowment of the same amount for future operation and maintenance costs. The Salvation Army would own and operate the Kroc Center.

The top item on each group’s list was an aquatic center, yet the specifics were varied. Some people focused on an Olympic-sized competition pool while others wanted a therapeutic pool for people with disabilities and the elderly. A diving tower also was suggested.

One man came prepared with blueprints of a “seven-star” swimming facility, but workshop facilitators said it was too early in the process for that kind of detail.

“This should be one of the best ones west of the Mississippi,” the man said.

Other top ideas included tutoring and classroom facilities, a cultural center, day care, performing arts center, veterans and senior citizen areas, commercial kitchen, natural resources education center and a wide range of suggestions for sports, from ballet and hockey to an inside track and a rock-climbing wall. There were requests for space that could be used for sewing classes, music lessons, cards and games, dance workshops and even a place with tools where people could come fix their cars.

Many people agreed that the center should focus on families and education, whether it’s parenting classes or early childhood development programs. Making sure the facility serves people with disabilities was another goal. One of Kroc’s requirements is to have a chapel in each facility.

One person said that the planning should include preparing for the future and what Kootenai County residents may want or need in 30 years.

“We’ve been working on this for a while and there’s stuff we never thought of that’s just tremendous,” said Jonathan Coe of the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s amazing. It’s starting to feel like the place is coming alive with these ideas.”