Civic leaders, neighbors and funders gathered Tuesday at the Kansas City home where Satchel Paige once lived, trading renderings and restoration updates in hopes of keeping alive a years-long push to turn the property into a museum. The gathering, billed as a “First Pitch” meet-and-greet, drew people with deep personal ties to the Negro Leagues legend, including his oldest daughter, who still remembers growing up in the house.
A Daughter's Memories at 2626 East 28th Street
The event was held at 2626 East 28th St., according to KCTV, which reported that the gathering was meant to share progress, show renderings and rally support to preserve and restore the house. Pamela Paige O'Neal, Satchel Paige's oldest daughter, said her family moved into the home in 1950. She recalled that her father made sure the backyard was stocked with amenities for children, a detail that speaks to the domestic side of a man better known for his pitching exploits.
Paige lived in the three-story house, built in 1910, from 1950 until shortly before his death in 1982, according to the African American Heritage Trail of Kansas City. He was the oldest rookie in Major League Baseball history at age 42 and became the first Negro Leagues player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the station's report notes.
From Fire Damage to Federal Grant
The house fell into disrepair and was damaged by fire in 2018, according to the nonprofit Satchel's House. Kansas City government later took ownership of the property and used a federal grant to replace the roof, reinforce its structural integrity, and shield it from vandalism and weather, per the Kansas City Star.
Missouri state Rep. Mark Sharp, who represents District 7, attended the event and spoke about his own connection to Paige's legacy. Sharp played at Satchel Paige Stadium as a child through the RBI program, an experience he said he found inspiring. He said he wants attention to continue on Paige's career and legacy, adding that the pitcher's career, his home and the planned museum all matter to the community, per the same account.
Three Phases, One Long Road to a Museum
Rodney Bland, chairman of the board for the Satchel Paige Family Home Renovation, said $1.3 million has been spent on phase one of the restoration, covering the exterior of the house. He said the next phase will move into the interior, with a third phase intended to create a museum on the site. Organizers hope to open the house in 2030 if funding proceeds as planned, the station's report notes.
That timeline reflects a project that has repeatedly outpaced its own projections. A 2022 estimate from organizers pegged the restoration at about $3.5 million with a roughly two-year timeline, according to KCUR. By 2023, a project report cited by the Kansas City Star put the true cost of doing the work properly closer to $7 million, while Satchel's House's own website describes the effort as a $7.5 million rebirth of the landmark. Earlier reporting from FOX4 Kansas City had once floated an end-of-2024 opening, a target that came and went as the project's plans were finished before its funding was. By 2023, the Star reported, the team had completed detailed building plans and called the project construction-ready, even as the money to build it remained unsecured.
A Neighbor's Decades-Long Watch
Marquita Taylor, president of the Santa Fe Area Council Neighborhood Association, has lived in the house for more than 30 years and has worked for seven of those years specifically to restore it. She said preserving the home is her responsibility, and she said she envisions one day attending its grand opening. Taylor's history with the block runs deep: Buck O'Neil, the Negro Leagues star and ambassador, was her neighbor during her time living there.
FOX4 Kansas City reported in July 2022 that the city council had approved the museum plan, with completion projected in the next couple of years. Satchel's House describes the overall restoration journey as one likely to last up to three years, a timeline that has already stretched well beyond initial projections as the project moves phase by phase toward its 2030 goal.
