The abandoned Wyncote property where baseball legend Reggie Jackson grew up will be torn down to make way for a proposed parking lot, the Cheltenham Board of Commissioners decided Wednesday.
The two-story property at 149 Greenwood Ave. doubled as a family home and a tailor shop that Jackson's father, Martinez, operated on the first floor during the 1950s and '60s. Martinez Jackson was a pilot in World War II and later became a second baseman for the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues.
Cheltenham commissioners gave conditional approval to the property owner to demolish the vine-covered building and construct a parking lot on the 5,594-square-foot parcel. To honor the history of the property, the plan will include the placement of a commemorative plaque. A low stone wall will be built along the front of the property and a retaining wall will be added to the back. Officials have not said how soon the demolition could begin.
Ann Rappoport, the Cheltenham commissioner whose ward covers the site of the house, said in an email that Jackson has not shown interest in preserving the building over the years. There also hasn't been outside interest in relocating the structure, she said. The township's board of historical and architectural review previously reviewed and granted approval for the demolition. The historical commission intervened to ensure that the site will receive a plaque, although the wording and design still need to be developed.
Jackson, 78, played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball and won five World Series — three straight with the Oakland Athletics from 1972-74 and back-to-back titles with the New York Yankees in 1977-78. He was nicknamed Mr. October for his clutch postseason hitting, including three homers in the clinching Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. Jackson also had stints with the Baltimore Orioles and California Angels. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Jackson's father told the Inquirer's Frank Dolson that he earned $7 a game and $14 for double-headers in the Negro Leagues. He used that money to open his shop in Wyncote and also tried his hand at the bootleg whiskey business out of the Wyncote home, a gambit that landed him in prison for six months. Jackson was a single father who raised Reggie at the Wyncote house with two siblings from his first marriage. Reggie's three other siblings lived with their mother after his parents divorced.
At Cheltenham High School, Reggie played baseball, football, basketball and ran track. He was consumed by sports as a way of avoiding work at the tailor shop. His father also owned shops in Philadelphia and expected Reggie would join the business if he didn't become a professional athlete.
“I did anything I could do not to go into the shop and have to work on the pressing machine ... when it was 100 degrees with all the humidity in Philadelphia,” Reggie said at the time of his Hall of Fame induction. “It was terrible."
The property on Greenwood Avenue, built in 1900, was sold in 1976 for $29,900, according to its sale history on Redfin. It changed hands several times since then. Reggie's father died in 1994. The property is now owned by developer Station Partners, which plans to build the parking lot to serve the adjacent iThrive co-working space.
NOTE: Additional information from the township was added to this story after its publication.