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Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.

Center Downsizing, Holds ‘Moving‘ Sale This Week

Yvonne Boose

A longstanding Rockford arts center is having a moving sale this week. Until recently, Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center used three locations: the Emerson building, First Presbyterian Church and Starr Center.

The center has decided to condense all operations to the Starr Center. Last year, the Emerson House was put up for sale. An offer was recently made. Mendelssohn is now looking to sell the First Presbyterian Church building, which it had used for concerts and office space. 

Jim Knoll is the board treasurer. He said there are a lot of assets that need to be sold before the church is put on the market. 

“We've got some speakers and audio equipment," he said. "We have all manner of extension cords and telephones. We've got some walkie-talkies. We've got a couple of microwaves, a couple of vacuum cleaners, got a pretty decent set of luggage here too.” 

Knoll said this is the center’s 136th consecutive season.   

“We're doing the best we can during a very difficult time,” he explained. “We encourage the community to please help us out. Come out to the sale here. If you see something that you like, buy it. If you don't see anything you like, make a donation.” 

An announcement from the center’s Board of Directors states that owning three aging buildings is a daunting situation.  

The sale takes place at 406 N. Main street. It starts Aug. 20  and goes through 23. 

  • Yvonne Boose is a 2020 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.

Yvonne covers artistic, cultural, and spiritual expressions in the COVID-19 era. This could include how members of community cultural groups are finding creative and innovative ways to enrich their personal lives through these expressions individually and within the context of their larger communities. Boose is a recent graduate of the Illinois Media School and returns to journalism after a career in the corporate world.