The Salvation Army's Kroc Center, considered by regional leaders a key component in the maturation of the "second city" of Kapolei, is expected to break ground next summer and hold its grand opening in spring 2010, said Maj. Phil Lum, project director for the community facility.

When completed, the $63 million facility on 12 acres of state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property near the proposed University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu site will be the state's largest community center.

From a performing arts center to a gymnasium, and even a banquet facility, the center is expected to fill a badly needed niche for the growing number of families living in the West O'ahu area.

Yesterday, the organization received a $500,000 check from the James Campbell Co. and the James & Abigail Campbell Foundation.

"It's a major addition to our community, and we're so proud to be a part of it," said Steve MacMillan, James Campbell Co. chief executive officer.

The center will provide much-needed services in the fastest-growing area in the state, he said.

The Campbell contribution is the latest in a string of contributions for project construction. But the Salvation Army still is only about a third of the way toward reaching a goal of collecting $23 million from the community, Lum said.

Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, left $1.6 billion to the Salvation Army to build Kroc centers across the nation. The O'ahu project was awarded $80 million by the foundation, half to go toward construction and the rest for an operations endowment.

Mrs. Kroc wanted the community to invest and share in ownership of the Kroc centers, and asked that each state organization look for local donors.

The completed complex will have a 500-seat worship center/performing arts center, gymnasium, competitive pool, leisure pool, fitness center, commercial kitchen, banquet facility with meeting and event space, multi-functional community rooms, an education center, an outdoor cultural activities center, a preschool, an audio-visual learning center and ball fields.

Lum said advisory committees are in the process of designing programs for the center. "We've gathered key people from the community ... to make it a true community center," he said, adding that the Salvation Army is somewhat new to the community-center business. "We want to be able to pick the brains of the people that really know what's happening, who know what the needs are, where the gaps in services are."

The center is expected to draw neighborhood people from 'Aiea to the Wai'anae Coast.

"People think that the Salvation Army only serves the down-and-outers, but we've found that there are other needs," Lum said.

The center is designed to be a place "where anybody from any walk of life can feel comfortable, can feel accepted and can have opportunities to do whatever."

Other major contributions to date include $4.3 million in infrastructure improvements from the home lands department, $1.5 million in state grant in aid, $1 million from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, and $300,000 from First Hawaiian Bank and the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.