The former Chicago home of Muddy Waters is to be transformed into a blues museum after it was given a $50,000 grant through the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
The house at 4339 S. Lake Park Avenue in North Kenwood will now become The Muddy Waters MOJO Museum, and will incorporate a blues museum, a recording studio, a small live venue and a community garden.
Waters bought the property in 1954 and lived at the address for 20 years, with the house becoming a gathering place for Waters and other blues musicians who would get together for jams in the basement.
His great-granddaughter Chandra Cooper tells the Hyde Park Herald: “We want to be able to support older artists as well and as a small venue where people can go in the basement and do a little recording.
“While it wasn’t a recording studio downstairs, we’d like to incorporate that into the overall experience.”
Cooper added: “It was so significant to get this grant money from the trust, because it’s really saving this house from any more deterioration.”
The renovation project is expected to take two years to complete.
