Although the owner of Pope Leo XIV’s boyhood home in south suburban Dolton has announced plans to auction the house in mid-June, village leaders in the south suburb have decided to pursue acquiring the house on East 141st Place through either direct purchase or, failing that, through eminent domain.
Village Attorney Burton Odelson told Elite Street that Dolton’s recently sworn-in mayor, Jason House, made the decision to proceed with the acquisition with the consent of the Village Board. Leaders have not yet decided how the three-bedroom home would be used, however, Odelson said.
Born Robert Prevost, the new pontiff is a Dolton native, as his family lived in the home from his birth until his parents sold it in 1996. Since Prevost was named the leader of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, the house has drawn significant interest from onlookers, prompting Dolton officials to station a police car on the block, Odelson said.
Homer Glen-based rehabber Pawel Radzik paid $66,000 last year for the house — before anyone knew that Prevost would become the first American-born pope — and he gave it a major haul, telling the Tribune that “80% of it is new — new flooring, new cabinets, new electrical, new kitchen.” He then listed it in January for $219,000 before cutting his asking price to $205,000 later that month and then to $199,900 in February.
With the news that the new pontiff had spent many years of his youth living in the 141st Place home, Radzik decided to take the home off the market and consider his options. On May 15, he decided to place the house up for auction on June 18, working with New York auction house Paramount and listing a $250,000 reserve price, or minimum bid to be accepted.
Now, those plans would seem to be at least somewhat up in the air, as Dolton officials plainly want the house. Odelson said negotiations with Radzik have not been fruitful.
“We sought to buy the house from the owner. The mayor met with the owner, and he wanted too much money for it,” Odelson said. “So we turned out attention to the auctioneer, to let the auctioneer know that you’ve got to tell the prospective buyers that if they buy it, they’re not going to have it for very long. Either we’re going to buy it or we’re going (to use) eminent domain (to acquire it).”
Under eminent domain, a court ultimately could determine the amount that the village would have to pay, although the fact that the East 141st Place is the only boyhood home of the only American pope in history would present a challenge in finding any sales of comparable properties. In theory, an auction could provide a fresh, open-market value for the home that could prove useful in a court proceeding and related negotiations.
Odelson dismissed any other option, such as allowing a low-profile residential buyer to own and occupy the house.
“The answer is no,” he said. “The direction I have is to work with the archdiocese to do what they want to do with the house.”
Odelson noted that he has spent three days straight working with leaders from the Archdiocese of Chicago, including its vicar general, and that they’re “very responsive” and “very, very interested to make it special.”
How the home ultimately would be used, however, remains to be determined. The village’s purchase at least in part is to prevent some other buyer from attempting to commercialize a house in a residential neighborhood, even if the area’s residential zoning would preclude such uses.
“You got me,” said Odelson, in answer to a question about how the house would be used. “We’re just in the first steps — we’re doing a couple of first steps to declare it a historic preservation site and to get the cooperation of the archdiocese and to purchase it and protect it. We’ve had hourly patrols (since Prevost was named pope), and a lot of people have come with flowers, crosses and pictures, and our job is to protect the neighborhood and to protect the site. I’ll tell you this — it’s not going to be a (bed-and-breakfast inn). That’s what we’re trying to prevent. We, the Village of Dolton, want to make sure the site is preserved as a treasure, as a national historic site for people to come and do what they need to do — we do not want it to become an amusement park-type thing.”
Odelson suggested that village ownership of the onetime Prevost family home actually could benefit the neighborhood.
“Speaking to the mayor today, we’re going to look to improve the sidewalks and the streets, and making sure that everybody’s grass is cut and that there’s police protection, and it’s orderly,” he said. “That’s why we’re going to get (the home) — to protect the neighborhood also. When it becomes an historic site and whenever it’s turned into whatever it’s going to be turned into by the village and the archdiocese, it will be upgraded, with regular hours. The neighbors’ houses will be more valuable.”
Radzik did not respond to a request for comment. However, Odelson alluded to the controversial and recently concluded reign by Dolton’s previous mayor, Tiffany Henyard, when he called the revelation that the pontiff once had lived in the community some “divine intervention” for the troubled south suburb.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and goodness, hopefully the news people will stop saying that the pope is a Chicago native and start saying that he is a Dolton native,” he said.
Odelson said beyond the local historic ordinance, village officials hope to have the house listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. He added that he didn’t know what the ultimate cost would be of neighborhood infrastructure upgrades, stepped-up police protection and of the actual purchase price for the pope’s onetime dwelling.
“Let me put it this way: This is something the village has to afford. Can we? We’re deeply in debt, and we owe a lot of bills,” he said. “We don’t even know how much we owe. The new mayor has just taken the reins a week ago. However, there are foundations and preservation societies and grants, and I can’t imagine that we wouldn’t be eligible to get every single one for the American-born pope.”
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
