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Window on NIU's past
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uiniu57 Offline
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Window on NIU's past
For those who don't see the Daily Chronicle, here's a copy/paste of an article in today's paper. ...... However, it doesn't include any mention of the mirrors on the ceiling that Clyde Wingfield once installed.


Public gets look into NIU president's house as it hits the market
By Nicole Hebel - news@daily-chronicle.com
DeKALB – For years it was the home of university presidents, but on Sunday afternoon, prospective buyers flocked to 901 Woodlawn Drive in DeKalb as the former “official home” of Northern Illinois University’s past presidents hit the market.
Castle View Real Estate agent Mary Nelson said the house was built in 1952 by DeKalb residents Roy and Lillian Skorberg. Lillian sold it to NIU’s then-newest president, Rhoten Smith, in 1968.
“He gave the house to the NIU foundation in 1970, and they deeded it to the Board of Regents in 1971. It’s been the President’s House ever since,” Nelson said.
Both exchanges were for $10.
The 6,000 square-foot home is currently listed at $295,000. It tucks into the corner of an expansive front yard, only five minutes from NIU’s campus and sits on 1.3 acres of land.
In 2018, NIU appointed it’s current president Lisa C. Freeman. Freeman opted to remain in her own home, and 901 Woodlawn became surplus property. In November of 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees decided to put the house up for sale.
Sunday’s open house ran between 1 and 3 p.m., and hosted more visitors than Mary Nelson could count. However, not all of them were prospective buyers.
“I’ve talked with people from the neighborhood, people who have partied here when it was a Skorberg house, and with people who partied here when it was a Rhoten Smith house,” said Nelson. “But I’ve also had people who are really interested in living here.”
Keri Asevedo of DeKalb attended the open house with her husband and was drawn to the event by an online housing alert. The couple has been seeking housing opportunities for the past half year.
"We were half intrigued by actually seeing if it was something we’d want to buy, and half intrigued by seeing how the president of NIU lived," Asevedo said.
When asked about her impressions of the property, Asevedo said, “It’s a really unique space. And it’s huge, with a beautiful backyard, that’s for sure.”
Other visitors included the Gilson family of DeKalb. Todd Gilson is a professor and department chair at NIU, and heard of the open house through a campus internal communication.
“We’re just here to explore the home,” Gilson said. “It’s a great opportunity to see where the past presidents have lived, and check out for yourself if it might be something you’re interested in.”
Gilson agreed with Asevedo’s thoughts about the size of the space.
“It’d be great for someone with a large family, or for someone who wants to live in DeKalb with a bit of land and an intimate location,” Gilson said.
A second open house for the property will be held in March.
Illinois law requires that any proceedings received by the university from the sale of the house must go towards campus facility improvement.
According to a press release by NIU, “It will be used to revitalize classroom spaces and address other maintenance needs, such as roof repairs and a variety of other building improvements.”

https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2020/02/...1581942995
02-17-2020 05:50 PM
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JB04 Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
I feel like NIU is really hurting for money. It’s like we are selling things around the house just to pay the utilities. Enrollment is really hurting the university, the town, etc. I hate seeing this struggle
02-17-2020 06:16 PM
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HawaiiToNIU Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-17-2020 06:16 PM)JB04 Wrote:  I feel like NIU is really hurting for money. It’s like we are selling things around the house just to pay the utilities. Enrollment is really hurting the university, the town, etc. I hate seeing this struggle

I feel the same way. I know a few other universities in the state are hurting as well. This one hurts a little more knowing a place I called home is hurting so bad as well. A few other threads commented on how safety is an issue as well. Athletics is hurting, facilities are crumbling and we don't even have a school backed cheerleading squad. I'm going to keep donating while I can, and hope others do as well.
02-17-2020 06:23 PM
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JB04 Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-17-2020 06:23 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:16 PM)JB04 Wrote:  I feel like NIU is really hurting for money. It’s like we are selling things around the house just to pay the utilities. Enrollment is really hurting the university, the town, etc. I hate seeing this struggle

I feel the same way. I know a few other universities in the state are hurting as well. This one hurts a little more knowing a place I called home is hurting so bad as well. A few other threads commented on how safety is an issue as well. Athletics is hurting, facilities are crumbling and we don't even have a school backed cheerleading squad. I'm going to keep donating while I can, and hope others do as well.

Agreed, it’s the aggregate of all the things and how it seems we keep sacrificing for $. Then you look at the neighboring states and their public universities doing quite well. Bummer
02-17-2020 06:28 PM
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pvk75 Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
"In November of 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees decided to put the house up for sale."
And we all are hearing about it now. Typical.
02-17-2020 06:33 PM
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HawaiiToNIU Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-17-2020 06:33 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  "In November of 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees decided to put the house up for sale."
And we all are hearing about it now. Typical.

To be fair, they were transparent. This news broke last fall.

https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2019/09/...t/aljzfqr/
02-17-2020 06:54 PM
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pvk75 Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-17-2020 06:54 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:33 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  "In November of 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees decided to put the house up for sale."
And we all are hearing about it now. Typical.

To be fair, they were transparent. This news broke last fall.

https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2019/09/...t/aljzfqr/

I stand corrected, per my implication. I guess just that I hadn't heard of it, and usually pay closer attention.
However, if you sell an asset, you can only sell it one time. If Northern gets the asking price, it's a one-time influx of an amount small in comparison to the total budget. Still, I hope the sale benefits some physical facility that badly needs it.
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2020 07:06 PM by pvk75.)
02-17-2020 07:00 PM
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HawaiiToNIU Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-17-2020 07:00 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:54 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:33 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  "In November of 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees decided to put the house up for sale."
And we all are hearing about it now. Typical.

To be fair, they were transparent. This news broke last fall.

https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2019/09/...t/aljzfqr/

I stand corrected, per my implication. I guess just that I hadn't heard of it, and usually pay closer attention.
However, if you sell an asset, you can only sell it one time. If Northern gets the asking price, it's a one-time influx of an amount small in comparison to the total budget. Still, I hope the sale benefits some physical facility that badly needs it.

I've got a fear that all these cuts are slowly devaluing the quality of education at NIU. I remember they recently made cuts to maintenance to shore up budget.

https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2017/04/...t/avaxsqv/

I remember as recent as two years ago, professors were telling me they were on a hiring freeze and that a lot of professors weren't getting raises. In addition they were cutting supprty staff including TAs. I know many seem to think they get paid a lot. That's up for debate, but regardless these professors and staff end up leaving us.

I really hope Freeman and company have a plan to stop the bleeding.
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2020 08:16 PM by HawaiiToNIU.)
02-17-2020 08:13 PM
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Dtownboys Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-17-2020 07:00 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:54 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:33 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  "In November of 2019, the University’s Board of Trustees decided to put the house up for sale."
And we all are hearing about it now. Typical.

To be fair, they were transparent. This news broke last fall.

https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2019/09/...t/aljzfqr/

I stand corrected, per my implication. I guess just that I hadn't heard of it, and usually pay closer attention.
However, if you sell an asset, you can only sell it one time. If Northern gets the asking price, it's a one-time influx of an amount small in comparison to the total budget. Still, I hope the sale benefits some physical facility that badly needs it.

It really is just a drop in the bucket. They could really save some money if they were to curb some of the travel and conferences that staff members take. Some budgets are ridiculous. Tax money wasted in most cases. Not referring to Athletics either.
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2020 10:07 PM by Dtownboys.)
02-17-2020 10:06 PM
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uiniu57 Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
Per the Daily Chronicle: Former NIU President's Home Sold
According to the Real Estate agent listing the former home for the Northern Illinois University President, the property has a verbal offer and waiting on a final signature for the completion of the sale. The listing price of $295,000 is $15,000 above the Zestimate value. The final selling price has not been posted. Because the home is state property, there are many legal concerns with the transfer.

The home is located at 901 Woodlawn Drive in Dekalb, IL. Built as an entertainment luxury home for local DeKalb socialites, the property has many social amenities for entertaining. This 3 bedroom, 5 bathroom house includes 6,000 square feet of living space and sits on 1.3 acres that include a sweeping outdoor entertaining space.

The property has no previous tax information as it was part of the University and as state property not assigned a tax value. Similar homes of this size in the highly taxed DeKalb County should be approximately $12,000 or more.

The home was built in 1951 by Roy and Lillian Skorberg. It was sold in 1968 to NIU President Rhoten A. Smith (1967-1971) for his personal home. When President Rhoten Smith departed Northern he deeded the home to NIU Foundation, which two years later deeded the home to the NIU Board of Trustees.

This home had a political turmoil period during the Presidency of NIU President Clyde Wingfield (1985-86). Former NIU president Clyde Wingfield planned to take $100,000 of university money and use it on the renovation of his state-owned house. Illinois state laws required state approval to schedule any projects that exceed $20,000. Wingfield became embattled with the NIU College Newspaper (The Northern Star) which according to many media sources lead to Wingfield’s short tenure of 10 months. Wingfield died in 2011 at age 80 at his home in Dallas, Texas.
02-24-2020 11:36 PM
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cosine4 Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-24-2020 11:36 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  Per the Daily Chronicle: Former NIU President's Home Sold
According to the Real Estate agent listing the former home for the Northern Illinois University President, the property has a verbal offer and waiting on a final signature for the completion of the sale. The listing price of $295,000 is $15,000 above the Zestimate value. The final selling price has not been posted. Because the home is state property, there are many legal concerns with the transfer.

The home is located at 901 Woodlawn Drive in Dekalb, IL. Built as an entertainment luxury home for local DeKalb socialites, the property has many social amenities for entertaining. This 3 bedroom, 5 bathroom house includes 6,000 square feet of living space and sits on 1.3 acres that include a sweeping outdoor entertaining space.

The property has no previous tax information as it was part of the University and as state property not assigned a tax value. Similar homes of this size in the highly taxed DeKalb County should be approximately $12,000 or more.

The home was built in 1951 by Roy and Lillian Skorberg. It was sold in 1968 to NIU President Rhoten A. Smith (1967-1971) for his personal home. When President Rhoten Smith departed Northern he deeded the home to NIU Foundation, which two years later deeded the home to the NIU Board of Trustees.

This home had a political turmoil period during the Presidency of NIU President Clyde Wingfield (1985-86). Former NIU president Clyde Wingfield planned to take $100,000 of university money and use it on the renovation of his state-owned house. Illinois state laws required state approval to schedule any projects that exceed $20,000. Wingfield became embattled with the NIU College Newspaper (The Northern Star) which according to many media sources lead to Wingfield’s short tenure of 10 months. Wingfield died in 2011 at age 80 at his home in Dallas, Texas.

Man, I sure don't miss being taxed to death as much as I don't miss the winters. My house's Zestimate is $125k more than that and my tax is about 1/3 of that...plus no state income tax.
02-25-2020 07:20 AM
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Big Red Offline
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RE: Window on NIU's past
(02-24-2020 11:36 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  Per the Daily Chronicle: Former NIU President's Home Sold
According to the Real Estate agent listing the former home for the Northern Illinois University President, the property has a verbal offer and waiting on a final signature for the completion of the sale. The listing price of $295,000 is $15,000 above the Zestimate value. The final selling price has not been posted. Because the home is state property, there are many legal concerns with the transfer.

The home is located at 901 Woodlawn Drive in Dekalb, IL. Built as an entertainment luxury home for local DeKalb socialites, the property has many social amenities for entertaining. This 3 bedroom, 5 bathroom house includes 6,000 square feet of living space and sits on 1.3 acres that include a sweeping outdoor entertaining space.

The property has no previous tax information as it was part of the University and as state property not assigned a tax value. Similar homes of this size in the highly taxed DeKalb County should be approximately $12,000 or more.

The home was built in 1951 by Roy and Lillian Skorberg. It was sold in 1968 to NIU President Rhoten A. Smith (1967-1971) for his personal home. When President Rhoten Smith departed Northern he deeded the home to NIU Foundation, which two years later deeded the home to the NIU Board of Trustees.

This home had a political turmoil period during the Presidency of NIU President Clyde Wingfield (1985-86). Former NIU president Clyde Wingfield planned to take $100,000 of university money and use it on the renovation of his state-owned house. Illinois state laws required state approval to schedule any projects that exceed $20,000. Wingfield became embattled with the NIU College Newspaper (The Northern Star) which according to many media sources lead to Wingfield’s short tenure of 10 months. Wingfield died in 2011 at age 80 at his home in Dallas, Texas.

It this the infamous "John LaTourette" porch?
02-25-2020 08:26 AM
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