ST. LOUIS — The city of St. Louis has taken steps to grant tax abatement to a planned $17.6 million Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in north St. Louis, which could be followed by senior housing and retail at the site.
The project, at 2423 N. Spring Ave. in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood, would convert a vacant historic building into a St. Louis outpost of the existing Kansas City museum dedicated to the professional leagues for black players before Major League Baseball was integrated.
From 1906 to 1931, the St. Louis Stars operated independently and later as part of the Negro National League, winning three championships in the four years before the league disbanded. The team played at Stars Park, which is now the campus of Harris-Stowe State University. To honor the Stars, the St. Louis Cardinals have sometimes worn Stars jerseys for games.
Developer Guyton Harvey plans to build the local museum – honoring the Stars and the Negro leagues – inside the beaux-arts former United Railways Spring Avenue substation, which was built in 1908 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. The three-story building is made of brick and concrete, according to its National Register application submitted by the Landmarks Association of St. Louis.
The city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority took action Tuesday to blight the redevelopment site and recommend $1.3 million in tax incentives with 15 years of property tax abatement, the first 10 years at 90% abatement and the next five years at 50% abatement. The city Board of Aldermen would need to approve the incentives.
To figure out the economic impact, the city modeled annual attendance of the museum at 100,000 visitors annually, and estimated the project would create 25 full-time jobs.
Currently, the 1.57-acre site targeted for the museum consists of a vacant building and vacant lots, according to city documents.
Read more of the story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
To watch 5 On Your Side broadcasts or reports 24/7, 5 On Your Side is always streaming on 5+. Download for free on Roku or Amazon Fire TV.
