ST. LOUIS — The vacant, three-story brick house at 2844 ºüÀêÊÓƵ Avenue in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ was not supposed to be standing.
But somehow the family home of Ethel Hedgemon Lyle, the founder of the country’s first African American sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, escaped the wrecking ball that had wiped an adjacent house off the map 10 years ago.
Now the Jeff-Vander-Lou home, which sits northwest of the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s campus, will serve as a museum honoring African American women — the first phase of a broader plan from the Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha to revitalize a neighborhood impacted by years of disinvestment.
“For over a hundred years, we have been providing service to mankind,†said Tracey Clark Jefferies, referencing the sorority’s mission. “Now the community will know where to find us.â€
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Gamma Omega, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, and the sorority’s nonprofit, the Ivy Alliance Foundation, are spearheading the $4 million effort to open the museum and build an adjacent 12,000-square-foot community center that will offer job assistance and skills training. The group is kicking off the community center with a land dedication ceremony open to the public at 2 p.m. on Dec. 2 at 2850 ºüÀêÊÓƵ Avenue.
The sorority’s plan comes as NGA is in the midst of building its nearly $2 billion new western headquarters at Jefferson and Cass avenues, less than a mile away. The development, the largest-ever federal investment in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, is poised to move thousands of jobs from the agency’s existing campus in south city to the neighborhood.
Lyle grew up in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, attended Sumner High School and graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she founded Alpha Kappa Alpha in the early 1900s. Gamma Omega was founded in 1920 in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and now has hundreds of members. The group focuses on helping the underserved throughout the region and often partners with the Urban League of Metropolitan ºüÀêÊÓƵ and NAACP, Jefferies said.
The sorority had looked for a home for the Ivy Alliance Foundation for a decade when a member mentioned that Lyle had grown up in the neighborhood. Jefferies, who leads the chapter’s buildings and properties committee, kicked off a search to find the home.
Eventually she found it, surprised to see it still up even though it had been tagged for demolition. It was owned by developer Paul McKee and his Northside Regeneration, the largest landowner in north city.
McKee sold it to the sorority at a decent price, Jefferies said. And McKee, who said the deal offered a “unique opportunity to support their initiative,†helped connect the sorority with the block’s other landowner, color maker Sensient Technologies Corp. to sell its property.
“They owned the land, and they didn’t have to sell the land,†she said of the companies.
The group plans to work with Sensient on connecting residents with jobs at the company. Sensisent’s general manager, Matt Bartoe, said in a statement that the company views the opportunity as “a lifetime partnership.â€
Lyle’s house, which will be the museum, is undergoing renovation. The construction of the community center is slated to start next fall and open by summer 2024, Jefferies said.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ-based Kwame Building Group is the contractor. Midwest Bank Centre is the lender. Gamma Omega also is seeking donations.
“Developing underdeveloped areas is a great thing. What we hope is that the people of the community will be able to benefit from it,†Jefferies said. “We want to be there to help them benefit from it.â€