Whiteside United Way selling its historic building in Sterling, looking for smaller digs

STERLING – United Way of Whiteside County is looking to downsize to economize.

The agency has owned its large, downtown historic building at 502 First Ave. since 1990, but thanks to the pandemic, which has employees from all businesses spending less time at the office, it finds that much of the building is not being used.

That doesn’t mean the cost of maintenance or utilities have gone down, however, and rather than spend money that could be going to its programs on an inefficient space, the agency plans to sell the house and find a new, smaller office, Robert Urbanski, UWWC board president, said in a news release.

“Our priority is to keep connecting the generosity we know thrives in our community with United Way’s mission of supporting great social service partners in Whiteside County,” Urbanski said. “We can do that best by limiting costs that could otherwise take away from our important mission.”

The agency will stay in its current location until the building sells, CEO Keri Olson said in the release.

Anyone interested in buying the stately brick building, originally a Christian Science Church, can contact Olson at 815-625-7973 or kolson@uwwhiteside.org. The asking price is $149,900.