Management officials at the storage facility in Arlington Heights say the unit was rented by the Rod Blagojevich campaign and that they are delinquent in payments.
Company officials say the storage vaults were taken out and paid for by Blagojevich's campaign committee back in 2002. It is believed they contain mostly campaign files and paraphernalia, but the storage company says they are not being paid for, and they are getting ready to sell what they can and throw out the rest.
Elvis Presley may be former governor Rod Blagojevich's idol, but a life-sized representation of the king of rock was set aside by the former governor, packed up, and stored in an Arlington Heights storage facility for eight years now.
The statue would likely still be in a corner covered in bubble wrap if it weren't for the fact that Blagojevich's fundraising organization, Friends of Blagojevich, is accused of not paying for Elvis's upkeep for several years now.
So Elvis is getting auctioned off.
"We've spent a lot of time trying to get this resolved. We want to make room in our warehouse or get paid for it one way or another. I'm not mad, but it's a little frustrating," said Joe Saverino, Boyer-Rosene Moving and Storage.
Elvis is accompanied by seven wooden vaults full of stuff. All the attached tags say is that the items belong to Friends of Rod Blagojevich.
Saverino would not say how much is owed them, but the company's lawyer says the amount is in excess of $100,000.
The auction date is now set for August 14.
"Typically when we have auctions, it's people's couches, furniture's, lamps, whatever. It's like a big rummage sale. We just put it in the parking lot and people come out and typically they just bid on certain items," said Saverino.
Saverino says the proceeds will be donated to Children's Memorial Hospital, but it is not clear whether there is anything of value inside the crates.
The ad being published in The Daily Herald this coming Wednesday lists the contents as "vaults filled with documents, cancelled checks, bank statements, and other personal property."
Running the ad 15 days before the auction date is one of the requirements set by law. So, in theory, the Friends of Rod Blagojevich group could still reach some sort of agreement with the storage company and avoid the auction. If that doesn't happen it seems likely Elvis is destined for a new home.
Attempts to contact the attorneys for the campaign group were not answered.
