The president’s residence at Western Illinois University is on the market. The asking price is $618,000.
The home at 2001 Wigwam Hollow Rd. has more than 5,600 square feet, according to the Century 21 listing. It has four bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and three half bathrooms.
The house, which sits on a 10-acre site, was built in 1973.
The WIU administration has been looking for ways to save money, and selling the property has been suggested as one possibility.
Joe Roselieb, currently assistant vice president for student success, studied the feasibility of doing so when he worked in facilities management.
He told the Board of Trustees in September that they looked for ways to reduce services and increase efficiencies while having a minimal impact on students.
“The university residence is where we spent a significant amount of time, to the tune of about $60,000 a year,” Roselieb said.
“That was just trades going out there. A lot of mowing. We’ve got four furnaces. That’s a lot of units to maintain. A lot of different things with a 50-year old building.”
As TSPR reported previously, Interim President Dr. Kristi Mindrup, who had been WIU’s Vice President of Quad Cities Campus Operations, said she does sometimes use the residence in Macomb.
She said the home and the views from it are beautiful, but supports exploring the possibility of selling it.
“I truly believe in leaving no stone unturned and maximizing what we can do financially to sustain the institution,” she said.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
