The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center takes visitors along the story of the Oregon Trail through a series of exhibits and displays.

When emigrants traveling the Oregon Trail in the 19th century busted a wagon axle, they might be delayed a day so they could fell a tree and fashion a new axle.

The task confronting the Bureau of Land Management, which operates the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City, could not be completed with an ax and a chisel.

The center, which opened in May 1992 on Flagstaff Hill, where emigrants had their first view of Baker Valley, has attracted about 2.4 million visitors. A former executive director for the Baker County Chamber of Commerce said in 2021 that the center, which has a variety of exhibits exploring not only the Oregon Trail but also the experiences of Native Americans, is on the itinerary for about 70% of Baker County visitors.

But the building’s appetite for electricity was exorbitant.

Based on an inspection in 2018, BLM officials deemed the center the least energy-efficient building on its roster. Its power bill averaged $10,000 per month.

That prompted BLM officials to plan a $6.5 million makeover to replace most things attached to the center’s frame, including installing new cement board siding, insulation, roofing, windows and doors. The contractor also replaced the heating and cooling system.

These upgrades, though welcome, also contributed to a closure of the most popular visitor attraction in a county where tourism is a major industry.

BLM officials had decided to renovate the building when the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to do the work when the center likely would have been closed anyway due to the pandemic.

The combination of COVID-19 and the renovations resulted in the center being closed for more than three and a half years straight, and even longer in total.

The center closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic. It was open at times during the summer and early fall, but then it closed again on Nov. 17, 2020, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

It’s been closed since. Although the pandemic receded, workers had to remove exhibits from the center starting in the fall of 2021 in preparation for the renovations that started in March 2022.

But all that will soon be history.

The BLM will reopen the center on Friday, May 24.

This should help to get the prime tourism season off to a rousing start during Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start to the summer.

And with Baker City celebrating the 150th anniversary of its official incorporation, the return of the center, along with the roster of summer events that bring thousands to the county, ought to be a boon for motels, restaurants and other businesses.

For the first time in four years, we can point to the distinctive building on Flagstaff Hill without having to tell visitors that, sadly, they can’t experience its wonders.