KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A $150,000 grant awarded to Kansas City, Missouri, will help the city start rebuilding the fire-damaged Satchel Paige home.
The National Trust for Historic Housing grant will allow the city, which owns the home, to start stabilizing and repairing the structure.
"The funding we just received will help us shore up the property," Santa Fe Area Council President Marquita Taylor said. "It will help us to put a roof on and do some more studies with what we have and what we will need to move forward."
The home at 2626 E. 28th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, was gutted by a fire on May 29, 2018.
Once the stabilization is complete, the city plans to request proposals to redevelop the house.
“This is the result of a collaborative effort by city staff and community partners to ensure the long term viability of this important site and honor Satchel Paige’s legacy in Kansas City baseball history for generations to come,” City Manager Troy Schulte said in a release Friday.
Paige lived in the home from 1967 until he died in 1982.
"If they can do something with that and build the community up again, it would be a nice gesture from the city," neighbor Thomas Cobb said. "It was really hard to see it burn down."
Despite it's rundown condition, the house still attracts visitors.
"We both love baseball and I am just trying to further his education on the history," said Michelle Crislip of Lee's Summit, who brought her young son Tyler to see Paige's home. "We are just embracing the history of our city. It brings it to real life and I think it's important to keep that history alive for all generation."
"Finally, we are at a place now where we can see a beginning ... as we recognize Satchel Paige's home also knowing that Walt Disney's home is in our neighborhood, also knowing that Buck O'Neil's home is in our neighborhood," Taylor said. "There is a lot more work to do."
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