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Western Union loses Hill space as need for its services dwindles |
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By Kelly McCormack
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Posted: 06/05/07 07:33 PM [ET] |
Western Union’s days on Capitol Hill may be numbered.
The chief administrative officer of the House, Dan Beard, has given the Western Union branch, located in the basement of the Longworth House Office Building, until July 1 to pack up and move out.
A few congressional pages use the branch and some people overseas use it to wire money, according to a survey of employees Beard conducted recently. Otherwise, the Congressional Federal credit union handles most services Western Union otherwise might provide, Beard said.
“There really wasn’t a demand for their services up here [and we are] critically short of space,” Beard said.
Western Union has had a presence on the Hill since the mid-1800s. It has never had a lease and always has been provided with free space, Beard said. Beard gave the company six weeks’ notice in mid-April and just recently gave it a four-week extension. It must be out of the Longworth office by July 1.
Beard has given Western Union an opportunity to explain why it needs space on the Hill and what it is willing to pay for it. The Longworth branch has only one employee, he said.
“I will consider providing them space in another facility,” Beard said, noting that it would probably be in the Ford House Office Building.
Western Union confirmed that it would be moving out of the Longworth building by July 1.
“Western Union is vacating its current location,” a spokeswoman for the company, Sherry Johnson, said. “We’re hoping we can negotiate another location.”
Established in 1851, Western Union, formerly called the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, began administering money-transfer services in 1871. Last year, the company discontinued its telegram services.
Western Union delivered its first message to Capitol Hill in 1851, according to press reports. It has occupied space in the Capitol and every House and Senate office building except Hart.
“In the case of Western Union, we no longer send telegrams, and most of their clientele came from outside the community,” Beard said. “It used to be a major way people communicated. It’s no longer necessary with e-mail and cell phones.”
Three years ago, Western Union closed a branch in the Cannon House Office Building and consolidated in the basement of Longworth, Beard said.
In 2003, the company considered moving off Capitol Hill because it had not generated any revenue since 2000, according to press reports. It decided to stay open after contracting with an outside entity.
Once the space is free, Beard will consider moving either the finance office, the dry cleaners or House Information Resources, which provides tech support, into the space.
There are pros and cons to moving each of the offices into the “central location,” Beard said. The finance office is spread out in two different locations, the dry cleaners could be in a more central spot, and the technology department could use the
space to give tech tutorials to staffers about how to use BlackBerrys, software or other technology.
“I am [as] nostalgic as the next person about the history of this institution,” Beard said. “It’s sad with an institution like Western Union, but the reality is, they don’t send telegrams [anymore]. It would free space in an important location in the House of Representatives.”
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