The Paseo YMCA opened in 1914, when Julius Rosenwald encouraged Kansas Citians to raise $80,000 toward building a new YMCA.[2] The architect of the Paseo YMCA was local architect Charles A. Smith.
In 1920 eight independent black baseball team owners met to form what would become the Negro National League.[3]
The facility closed in the 1970s.
Museum renovations
In 2006, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum spearheaded an effort called "Thanks a Million Buck" to renovate the building and convert it to a research center and museum. The goal to raise a million dollars was quickly reached when John "Buck" O'Neil died in October 2006.[3] The YMCA was slated to re-open as the Buck O'Neil Education Research Center in 2007. However, that plan never came to fruition.
Citing a need for expanded museum space, the organization renewed the proposal to renovate and expand the facility on May 2, 2023, as a part of the "Pitch for the Future" campaign.[4] Organizers now hope for a 2028 opening.