Development of a St. Louis Negro Leagues baseball museum in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood of St. Louis took a big step forward on Friday.
The Board of Aldermen approved a redevelopment plan and blighting study for the $17.6 million project that includes the construction of 34 senior housing units and retail development.
In a September aldermanic committee meeting, developer Guyton Harvey said the project would be a boon for the community.
“It should be a catalyst for a lot of constructive development in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood,” Harvey said at a Housing, Urban Development and Zoning hearing. “Aside from construction jobs, it will have some permanent jobs that will definitely contribute to the fabric of the community.”
Board members voted 13-0 for the plan. The first phase of the development focuses on the museum, which will be located at the former United Railways substation on North Spring Avenue and will be a satellite location of the Kansas City Negro Leagues museum.
The plan includes up to 15 years of tax abatement and makes use of a property that was once a Land Reutilization Authority building and has been designated as a historic landmark that qualified for historic tax credits.
“St Louis is my home, and I love the city, and I love north St Louis, that’s where I’m from,” Guyton said in September. “One of my objectives is to, you know, provide, you know, some type of substantive opportunities.”
Phase two focuses on developing the senior housing units.
The bill is the latest in a series of city efforts to rebuild north St. Louis. It comes months after Mayor Tishaura Jones signed a bill allowing redevelopment plans and blighting studies across Jeff-Vander-Lou, St. Louis Place and Carr Square neighborhoods. The ordinance allows the city to utilize eminent domain and compel owners to sell private property with the goal of improving neighborhoods.
Alderwoman Laura Keyes, who sponsored the bill to approve the project, has said the project could help revitalize the area.
“When my family moved to that part of the 11th Ward, every good and service that you needed you could walk to,” Keys said in September. “Over the years, to watch the steady decline and disinvestment, and now we’re at a point where we can begin to see some light coming through the cracks and I am very, very excited.”
