It could be multi-million dollar boost for Augusta. The city has won its bid for a Kroc Center. The multi-million center and job training site will be built in the city's Harrisburg section.

The money will come from a billion dollars left by the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc.

"One-fifth of all the money allocated for the entire Southeast, they're putting here. I'm hoping it will energize people and get people saying we must have something here," said Judge Duncan Wheale, Salvation Army Board.

County leaders say the Kroc Center will also create dozens of jobs.
Besides new jobs, the Kroc Center could boost one of the area's oldest communities.

Reverend Hayward McKnight has been walking through this Harrisburg neighborhood for more than 44 years. He has ministered hundreds of people here.

He concedes the neighborhood has gone down over the years, but now news of a multi-million dollar community center and job training site here has him bubbling with enthusiasm.

"It's going to drive more people into this community so it's going to raise the entire community," he said. "It's a choice place to live now, but it will be a choice place for other people."

The announcement was made at Salvation Army headquarters in downtown Augusta. City leaders say the project will create jobs and pump more than $100 million into the area.

"We have people that will enjoy the arts. It will have something for them, adults, kids, recreation, jobs and skills training. It's a place that will beautify a community," said Major James Hall of the Salvation Army.

There is one catch to this entire plan. To qualify for the more than $70 million from the Kroc Foundation, the city must raise about $30 million from private donations.