New and Improved

BMC Looking Back: The History of Blue Mountain College

Blue Mountain College is a historical campus known for its driven students and old buildings. Many of the buildings that stand on the campus have been here for the past several decades. That doesn’t mean, however, that the campus has remained static. Quite the opposite, in fact. In the last twenty years, the physical landscape of BMC has grown and changed immensely.

One improvement made to the BMC campus is the new walking trail through the woods. Many years ago, it was a simple gravel path that led to the intramural field. Now, the pathway is paved, so students can walk to the intramural field without stepping in mud or rolling their ankles on loose gravel patches.

For former Blue Mountain Cross-Country runner Martha James, this trail has been a godsend for her and her team. “As a cross-country runner, I really enjoyed having it (the trail), because it wasn’t here when I got here two and a half years ago,” says James. She then remarks, jokingly, “They should’ve made the circular part in the intramural field an exact quarter of a mile.” She explains that it is hard to do speedwork on the slightly short track, as it is not quite exact.

That is not the end of the improvements made to the trail, either. Shortly after paving the trail, BMC added several streetlamps along the sides of the trail so the cross-country team can have light with which to see when they have early-morning practices.

One of the best additions (for education majors, at least) to the campus is the Education Building, which used to be Grisham Lumber and Supply. The building has been completely retrofitted for classrooms and is now an integral part in the BMC education department, though there was a bit of confusion surrounding the building this semester as BMC has officially changed the name of the Education Building to Coward-Martin Hall. Unfortunately, many transfers and freshmen didn’t get the memo. As a result, many new and returning students alike, while looking at their new class schedules in confusion, had to ask where to go when they had to make it to their class.

Because it is a remodeled lumber store, the classrooms and offices inside have odd shapes, but that just adds to the charm of the Education Building. Just be careful not to get lost in the long expanse of hallway that seems to lead nowhere.

The physical landscape of the school has changed, and we, the students, are thrilled for the changes that are still in store. While we may not know exactly what goes on behind the scenes, that does not keep us from getting a little excited when we hear news of new improvements being made to the campus.