College Campus For Sale in Billings: 5 Things We’d Do With It

Yellowstone Christian College announced in January 2021 that their board of directors made the decision to sell the campus, with plans to relocate to a new facility. According to the press release, one of the big factors in the decision to upgrade to a new campus was the 40-year-old facility's lack of general attractiveness. They said,

Current research ranks curb appeal as third among the criteria considered by prospective college students when they consider which school to attend. The quality and marketability of the degree pursued rank first and second, respectively.

It appears that the school's plan to build a beautiful new campus is starting to play out, as numerous FOR SALE signs recently popped up along the perimeter of the idyllic grounds, located on prime real estate on Shiloh Road between Scheel's and ZooMontana.

The entire campus can be yours for $5.6 million.

The property, represented by Billings real estate broker Rob Veltkamp, is listed for $5,650,000 and is billed as "redevelopment property." This will certainly be the case for whoever buys the 13-acre lot. The land is worth far more than any of the structures on the acreage and whoever purchases the campus will certainly level everything and start fresh.

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Let's pretend for a moment that funding is no issue, and the buildings/campus could be re-purposed into some sort of new learning center or community asset. Here are 5 of our wacky ideas.

A consolidated homeless center for Billings.

Let's take some of the pressure off downtown and turn the campus into a cohesive homeless shelter, with multiple agencies all working in one place to help the serious problem of homelessness in the Magic City. A gym, cafeteria, housing, church, etc. is already on-site and there is plenty of room on the 13-acre lot to build a ton of safe, low-cost housing.

Make it an awesome museum.

Why should the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman get all the glory? Call it the Museum of Montana (MOM!) and cram the entire place with amazing exhibits. Those "living history farms" type places always seem to do well, with butter churning, blacksmiths, and history re-enactors performing daily. Easy-access from I-90 would surely draw thousands of visitors.

How about a driving school?

Call it the Montana School of Driving and offer courses to help the very confused drivers of Billings. Courses would include:

• Navigation Round About's Like A Pro
• Turn Signals: Left and Right
• What Does a Red Light Really Mean?
• Fast Lane Do's and Don't
• The One Finger Salute is Not a Wave

Turn it into the Montana School of Independent Thinking

MSIT would teach young and old the power of independent thinking. With screams of "fake news" reverberating in our ears, combined with the legitimate concern of big tech throttling ideas, this campus would teach anyone the power to decide for themselves what is true and what's not.

Make it Billings' coolest new event center.

There's plenty of room for a small amphitheater and imagine how popular this west-end spot would be for concerts, huge flea markets, bazaars, big weddings or any other large event. Multiple outbuildings, on-site housing for vendors/artists, and lots of parking would provide an ideal setting.

These ideas are pure fantasy, but it's fun to think of what could be done with the aging college campus. What would you like to see come to the property? Drop a comment.