Eastern Alumni Services staff has relocated to a new home, but it won’t mean a farther hike for people seeking their services.

Eastern’s Alumni Services, formerly located at the Linder House, at 1544 4th St., has moved next door to the Brainard House, a residence-turned-office building, at 1548 4th St. The Brainard House was occupied by the EIU Foundation, which has now moved its offices to the new Neal Welcome Center.

The Alumni Services opted to move because the Brainard House offered more office space and meeting rooms than the Linder House. The association also prefers the 4th Street location because it is more convenient for students and alumni, said Steve Rich, director of Alumni Services.

“Brainard is a much nicer facility. It’s larger and we were happy to get the extra space,” he said.

Though the Alumni Services has left the Linder House, the house will not sit empty. The building will serve as a temporary home to the office of James Johnson, dean of College of Art and Humanities, and his staff while the Dounda Fine Arts building is closed for construction.

The Alumni Services retains ownership of the house, but they have leased it out to the College of Arts and Humanities until 2006, rent-free.

“The Alumni Association is committed to serving Eastern,” said Rich “By providing Linder House at no cost to the university, we were able to allow (the university) to direct funds to be used to benefit the students rather than additional rent costs.”

“We decided that it wasn’t appropriate for us to accept rental payments from the university because we exist to support Eastern, not derive income from it,” he said.

Rich said he did not know what the status of the Linder House would be after the Fine Arts building is completed and the Arts and Humanities staff moves back in.