Dolton residents were skeptical at Tuesday's board meeting, questioning whether the financially strained village could afford to purchase the home and maintain the streets surrounding it.

Pope Leo grew up in a small brick house in the Chicago suburb of Dolton which is now up for auction. The village’s board of trustees voted to buy it, in the hopes of creating a historic attraction.

Pope Leo’s hometown of Dolton, Illinois, is buying the pontiff's childhood home to be preserved as a landmark. The Chicago suburb’s board voted on the purchase, as the home has been drawing visitors from across the country since Cardinal Robert Prevost’s election as the first American pope.