The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Camden, NJ, is $1.6 million closer to raising the capital needed to begin construction thanks to a donation from New Jersey American Water.

The water utility company gifted $800,000 toward the center’s construction, which was matched by a grant from the Salvation Army national headquarters, according to Major Paul Cain, the Camden Kroc Center administrator. The donation is the largest to date, and in recognition, Cain says the facility’s aquatic center will bear the New Jersey American Water name.

Although remediation work has already started to clear the 24-acre former landfill site where the facility will be built, the center still needs to raise approximately $2.5 million to begin construction. Another $2.5 million is needed to fulfill the terms of the initial Kroc donation, which requires that $10 million of the facility’s $42 million construction costs to be raised locally.

The Kroc’s aquatic center will consist of two pools—one zero-entry pool for family recreational use and exercise classes and an eight-lane competition pool that will host swimming events for the center and local schools and colleges, Cain says.

The facility also will feature a small indoor fitness center comprised of a cardio and strength equipment area and group exercise studios. Additionally, the center will have both indoor and outdoor recreational sports courts and an outdoor running track.

Construction is currently scheduled to begin this summer and is expected to take 18 months to complete.

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