It was hot even under the shade of a tent. The red dirt of the 'Ewa Plain left marks on dignitaries' nice cars and nice shoes. There was nothing to see but dry weeds, a road that doesn't lead anywhere yet and a construction dust screen. But when Philip Swyers talked about miracles, you could almost see them shining in the midday sun.

Swyers, commissioner of the Salvation Army Western Territorial Commander, spoke at Monday's blessing for the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center that will be built on 15 acres in Kapolei. The 100,000-square-foot center, to open in 2010, will be the largest community facility in the state. There will be a preschool, athletic center, conference rooms and classrooms, a performing arts theater, aquatic center and a place for worship. It is a $103 million project.

It took a number of miracles for this to happen.

Swyers told the story of Ray and Joan Kroc, the benefactors who left $1.6 billion to the Salvation Army to build family centers nationwide. Ray Kroc was a mixer salesman who bought the first McDonald's from the original owners and turned it into the worldwide brand it is today.

One evening while going to an event in San Diego, the Krocs were a little early, so they decided to take a drive. "They ended up in a neighborhood, took a look around and said, 'You know, the Salvation Army ought to be here,' " Swyers said.

Ray Kroc died in 1984; Joan Kroc, in 2005. They left a fortune to the Salvation Army with the vision of building community centers that would be "a light on a hill, a place of hope" for families.

But Hawai'i was not one of the places on the list for a Kroc center.

Maj. David Hudson, the outgoing divisional commander for Salvation Army Hawai'i, said he thought Hawai'i should submit a proposal anyway.

"We didn't want 10 years from now somebody asking, 'Why didn't they try? Why didn't they do something?' "

Approval of the Hawai'i proposal was huge, but so was everything that had to follow. The Salvation Army had to purchase the land from the state, secure permits, coordinate with neighboring land owners and launch a supplemental fundraising campaign. In all, a bureaucratic nightmare. But it happened.

Swyers spoke of the people sitting in the front row of the ceremony, the who's who of local politics.

"Without thinking of angles or themselves, this front row could work together to make this happen," he said. "A miracle from God."

He meant that sincerely, and it was taken the same way.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.