College of Western Idaho leases Boise office space at Blackeagle Center

The College of Western Idaho is adding a Boise location.

The Nampa-based community college leased a 52,260-square-foot building at 1360 Eagle Flight Way, in the 45-acre Blackeagle Center complex at Overland and Maple Grove roads. Known as the Pintail Center, it previously housed Micron Technology technical support operations and World Travel, a travel agency for Micron.

CWI President Dennis Griffin said the location will be more convenient for students on the east side of the Treasure Valley.

Business and Office Technology, and Information Technology, courses will be offered in the Boise location starting in August, he said. Those courses will be moved off the main Boise State University campus.

Also at the Blackeagle Center location, CWI students will be able register for courses, take assessment tests and attend general lower-division academic classes.

“It will be our major intake center for people on that end of the Valley,” Griffin said.

“We knew from the very beginning that we needed a major presence in Boise and Ada County,” he said. He added: “Our plan would be to expand there later as we grow.”

The college signed a 10-year lease with renewal options, said Travis Anderson, chief operating officer for Blackeagle Center owner The Sundance Company. CWI is a good fit at Blackeagle because the park likely will have space to accommodate future expansion, and because most parking impacts will be in the evening, he said.

Brown-Mackie College has been expanding at Blackeagle. Griffin said he does not expect an impact on CWI’s operation there.

CWI on July 1 will take over governance of the Selland College of Applied Technology from Boise State. Most of the Selland courses will remain at Boise State until CWI finds space for them, but CWI must find space for them within three years, he said.

Also in July, CWI is slated to take over the former Boise State University Canyon County Center in west Nampa. CWI will offer nursing and allied health professions programs, he said.

CWI (www.cwidaho.cc) is based in the former Boise State University West campus in northeast Nampa. It started offering classes in January 2008. Voters in Ada and Canyon counties approved the school in May 2007.