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Sun., Feb. 15, 1981 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Scott Joplin Home Plans Resurrected

By D. D. Obika of the Post-Dispatch Staff

Long-delayed plans to restore a house that was once the home of Scott Joplin, famed ragtime composer, have been resurrected and supporters say they are optimistic the project soon will be under way.

Under the plan, the building at 2658 Delmar Boulevard will be renovated by the state Department of Natural Resources with $100,000 of St. Louis' federal community development funds. The money was appropriated by the Board of Aldermen in 1978 for the project, but the appropriation measure was vetoed by Mayor Jim Conway.

The Board of Aldermen overrode the veto, but Conway still refused to release the funds even after the board threatened to bring suit.

B.H. Rucker, an official with the Department of Natural Resources' Division of Parks and Historic Preservation, said that the department would accept the money from the city and ownership of the house from Jeff-Vander-Lou Inc., a neighborhood organization.

"The Department of Natural Resources will then renovate the building and lease it back to the city or to the neighborhood organization to operate," Rucker said.

When he vetoed the bill allocating the funds, Conway said he was reluctant to grant money directly to a private group such as Jeff-Vander-Lou. He also said he thought the building was a poor monument for Joplin.

Rucker said the department had discussed the proposals with Conway's office and officers of Jeff-Vander-Lou.

"They seemed interested in the concept," Rucker said. "There are some legal problems to be worked out, such as land transfer. The Missouri attorney general's office is trying to put the propased agreement in a legal form."

Randy Sissel, assistant attorney general, said Thursday that the first draft of the proposed agreement would be sent to the Department of Natural Resources early this week for study.

Conway's assistant, Robert Duffe, says the plan is acceptable to the mayor. He explained that the problem had been the city's unwillingness to take on ownership and maintenance of the restored building.

Rucker, Jill Taggart, Conway's assistant, and Jim Sporleder, an officer of Jeff-Vander-Lou, gave credit to a 16-yearold Creve Coeur youth for his efforts in getting the state department interested in the project.

The youth, John Hancock, a junior at Pattonville High School and a ra'gtirne musician himself, said he called the department two years ago after an impasse developed over the project.

"My only purpose is to have a monument for Joplin," Hancock said. "I think it is something neat that a citizen can do something like that."

Alderman Bruce T. Sommer, D-Gth Ward, said the board abandoned its effort to sue Conway for his refusal to carry out an ordinance providing funds to restore the building because the city counselor would have defended both the board and the mayor. The building is in Sommer's ward.

When told about the new development, Sommer said, "I am glad it happened, but I can't help but feel displeasure that it is taking so long."

The drive to restore the house and turn it into a museum began after it was designated a federal historic landmark in 1977. An organization called the Scott Joplin National Landmark Preservation Society was formed, headed by JoAnn Smith, wife of Alderman Wayman Smith III, D-26th Ward.

Mrs. Smith said Wednesday that she put the project on the back burner because of Conway's position. Mrs. Smith says she is happy about the new development. The house in question is a condemned, boarded-up four-family flat on Delmar near Jefferson Avenue. When Joplin moved to St. Louis as a 17-year-old piano player in 1885, Delmar was known as Morgan Street. He lived in several places during his first stint in St. Louis, including the building on Morgan Street.

Conway has disputed the length of time Joplin lived at the Delmar address. He said he had learned that Joplin lived in the house for only a week. But, supporters of the museum contend that he lived there for two years.