(OSV News) -- An Illinois town intends to purchase the childhood home of Pope Leo XIV, hoping to turn the property and its surroundings into a historical site.
The board of trustees of the Village of Dolton voted unanimously July 1 to buy the modest, one-story brick dwelling located at 212 E. 141st Pl. in Dolton.
Since the election of the first U.S.-born pope, the 75-year-old home -- in which the former Robert Prevost was raised -- has become a tourist attraction and even a place of pilgrimage.
"So many people are coming to the block," Nakita Cloud, spokesperson for the Village of Dolton, told OSV News. "You see tour buses (here)."
Next-door-neighbor Donna Sagna Davis previously told CBS News Chicago that visitors are "bringing rosaries, flowers."
Davis also told the outlet, "I've seen a lot of people; people from Greece, people from Italy, Germany. One woman came and she prayed, touched the door of the pope's house, and she said she wanted to be healed."
Dolton Mayor Jason House has highlighted the property's potential to help revitalize the community.
A sale price for the house, which had been up for auction, will not be publicly disclosed until the transaction has been completed, Cloud said.
She noted the town had "negotiated directly with the seller and his agent, and we came up with an amount that is satisfactory for everyone."
The final price, while not "millions of dollars," was "certainly more than the $199,000 original auction price," she said.
Images of the home on the real estate site Zillow show a fully renovated interior, with newer appliances, bathroom fixtures and flooring, as well a gray-white paint scheme and modern decor.
According to CBS News Chicago, resident Annette Mauro, who identified herself as a "practicing Catholic," said at the July 1 village board meeting -- which was open to the public -- "I see no reason why you want to buy that house," since the inside "does not look anything like when Father Prevost lived there."
Cloud clarified that earlier reports about the village invoking eminent domain -- whereby, under the Fifth Amendment, government can take control of private property for the benefit of public welfare, while providing just compensation to the owner -- were related to "due diligence."
"It was a disclaimer they put out to the auction house about the property being subject to eminent domain," she explained. "If Mayor House is not the mayor in four years, and someone else comes in … we would hate for someone to go and bid and purchase a property at a million dollars that could be taken away from them."
At the July 1 board meeting, town officials also decided to purchase a nearby residence located at 200 E. 141st Pl., which Cloud described as "kind of an eyesore at the end of the block."
Online images viewed by OSV News at the Redfin real estate website showed that home as badly decayed, with heavy overgrowth, roof damage and what appeared to be a missing front door as well as broken windows.
"What we want to do is, in honoring the faith as well as the archdiocese (of Chicago), we want to turn that entire block into a historical site," said Cloud. "So we're going to acquire that property as well and fix it up."
CBS News reported that the decision to buy the home was largely supported by Dolton residents, although a few expressed concerns the money would be better spent on other infrastructure and economic development projects.
Cloud said the village is not working with the Archdiocese of Chicago "at this time" on the transformation of Pope Leo's childhood home into an historical site, although she added, "We're trying to work it all out."
OSV News is awaiting a response to its request for comment by the archdiocese.
