Blue Mountain Community College is moving its Baker City campus.

The college, based in Pendleton, has had a local campus at 14th and Baker streets, in west Baker City, for more than 20 years.

The new campus, slated to open in March, is in the business complex at 3370 10th St. that also houses the DMV office.

Jeff Nelson, director for BMCC in Baker County, said that after talking with local residents, BMCC officials concluded that despite having a campus in Baker City for 24 years, most people didn’t know the location.

The space in the 10th Street complex, previously occupied by Intermountain Law Offices, includes 3,850 square feet, Nelson said.

“Right now they are knocking down walls and making classrooms,” Nelson said.

The plan is to move on March 1.

“It’s a block away from the high school, so great for our dual credit students,” he said, noting that some Baker High School students take college-level courses through BMCC.

The current campus at 14th and Baker is a much larger building at nearly 6,000 square feet, along with modular classrooms totaling almost 1,300 square feet.

Nelson said the building was suitable when BMCC had more students taking in-person classes. But the trend, accelerated by the pandemic, is toward online classes, he said.

The 10th Street campus will include a main classroom, computer room, testing room and office spaces.

“Since COVID, the education system has been turned upside down, and with that our registration rates per classes have moved to an online or a flex module, which they can meet professors via Zoom meeting, or they can do in person which is probably the least popular option,” Nelson said. “Right now there’s a six-to-one ratio of online to in-person students.”

Nelson said New Directions Northwest plans to buy the former BMCC campus.