Paseo YMCA/ Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center

Completed in 1914, the Paseo YMCA building was and is a major landmark of the Black community in Kansas City. Hosting a multitude of clubs, leagues, and activities, the YMCA provided the community with amenities that were otherwise denied due to segregation. This building was also the site of the creation of the Negro National Baseball League in 1920. Led by Rube Foster, the league became the first long-term and commercially viable association of baseball teams in the era of segregation. Unfortunately, declining attendance in the 1960s and 70s forced the YMCA to close, though the building itself remained. Since the early 2000s, restoration efforts for this former YMCA building have been closely tied to efforts by the neighboring Negro League Baseball Museum to utilize the building as a research center dedicated to the Negro Leagues and named in honor of Buck O'Neil.

The Paseo YMCA finds its genesis in the growth of both the larger YMCA organization and the Black community in Kansas City. According to documents from the National Register of Historic Places, the continual growth of Kansas City's Black population prompted the creation of a YMCA branch to serve this demographic, since the YMCA organization was unsegregated, though the same could not be said for their facilities. The original headquarters of the branch was at 914 E. 12th Street, opening in 1902. In 1907, a campaign raised $10,000 to move the YMCA into three buildings that occupied the plot of the current structure. The YMCA quickly outgrew these facilities as well, prompting calls for the construction of a newer and more modern facility. The documents state that Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish philanthropist from Chicago, offered a $25,000 gift "to any city that would raise an additional $75,000 for a Negro YMCA building." Kansas City residents more than rose to this challenge. Between $30,000 generated from a subscription campaign among Black residents and $50,000 donated by white residents, Rosenwald's stipulation was fulfilled in 1913, and construction on the current building was completed a year later.

The National Register of Historic Places describes the numerous amenities the new building boasted for the local community. The main structure housed meeting rooms, common spaces, dormitories, and office spaces for YMCA management. A larger gymnasium was built in the back wing of the building, and a pool was installed in the basement (the only indoor pool available to Black residents at this time). Open 24 hours a day, the facility played host to multitudes of groups, including YMCA-sponsored youth groups, Scout troops, and many others. The documents state that "By 1941, the YMCA provided community service to 162 groups which annually held 3,650 meetings in the building with total attendance estimated at over 76,000." One of the most important meetings hosted at the building took place in 1920, and saw the creation of the Negro National Baseball League led by Rube Foster.

Unfortunately, the 1960s and 70s brought on a downturn in attendance for the Paseo YMCA. As city facilities desegregated and Black families moved out to the suburbs, the once-prominent community center was forced to close in the early 1970s, leaving the building to sit empty for the next several decades. Within the last twenty years, however, there has been a great deal of revival in the area. According to a story by Matthew Gwin from Startland News, Kansas City Southern Railway president Landon Rowland purchased the building from the city and donated it to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Thus began the project to turn the previously-abandoned YMCA into the Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center, named in honor of one of Kansas City's baseball legends. In August of 2006, the NLBM launched the "Thanks a Million Buck" campaign to solicit donations for a remodel of the building. Unfortunately, O'Neil passed away in October of that year, never seeing the full fruition of the center that now bears his name. In spite of this loss, the Museum raised several million dollars to remodel and improve the building, thanks in part to the efforts of donors and community leaders such as Ollie Gates and Julia Irene Kauffman. Unfortunately, tragedy struck again in 2018 when, as the building neared completion, vandals caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in water damage. However, the community came through once again, raising more than enough money to repair the facility. After additional fundraising in honor of Buck O'Neil's 2022 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Center is undergoing final preparations for its debut, planned for spring or early summer of 2023.

According to the NLBM's website, the completed Center will host the NLBM Sports Science Center, with exhibits and programming about the science behind baseball. The building will also offer a research library "developed to make the NLBM the central repository for Negro Leagues history", as well as exhibit galleries, rentable event spaces, and leasable office space for small businesses. When all is said and done, the Paseo YMCA stands poised to breathe new life into its community, just as it did when it first opened over a century ago.

“Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center.” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://www.nlbm.com/buck-oneil-center/. 

Greenstein, Melissa, and Tom Dempsey. “'Malicious Intent' Possible in Damage to Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center.” KSHB 41 Kansas City News. KSHB 41 Kansas City News, June 22, 2018. https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/malicious-intent-possible-in-damage-to-buck-oneil-education-and-research-center. 

Gwin, Matthew. “From Abandoned Artifact to New Negro Leagues' Space: Why Renovated Paseo YMCA Now Bears the Name 'Buck O'Neil'.” Startland News, February 2, 2023. https://www.startlandnews.com/2023/02/buck-oneil-education-and-research-center/. 

National Register of Historic Places, Paseo YMCA, Kansas City, Jackson County, MO, National Register #91001151

“Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Announces ‘Thanks a Million Buck’ Grassroots Campaign to Raise Funds For the Buck O’Neil Education & Research Center.” Internet archive: Wayback Machine, August 4, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061115164131/https://www.nlbm.com/buck/ThanksBuckRelease_8-4-06.pdf.