Let's seize the chance for UI campus

It seems too good to be true.

Sandpoint, sometimes called the college town without a college, could be home to a college campus.

As the Bee reported Saturday, the University of Idaho and the nonprofit Wild Rose Foundation will present an ambitious plan to the State Board of Education on Feb. 22.

Here's what we know so far. The information is sketchy because the University of Idaho and the Wild Rose Foundation don't want to speak too loudly before the education board's meeting.

? The University of Idaho would sell the 77-acre Sandpoint Research and Extension Center on Boyer to the foundation for $6.25 million. The foundation would develop a campus and spend at least $20 million on facilities and infrastructure. The property would be given back to UI at that time.

? Undergraduate degrees could be offered beginning in 2010.

? There is property set aside to build a new high school.

What a magnificent idea. And there's more. Much, much more.

Imagine finishing off a degree in Sandpoint. Imagine our children staying here, taking college courses and earning a degree.

Imagine having all of the energy a campus brings to an area.

While there are a lot of questions to be asked, we are excited about the possibilities.

The Bee will continue to follow this story and report what we know. On the news pages, we will cover this story with an objective eye.

On the Opinion page, we hope to rally this community behind what could be a fundamental change in the future of education in Sandpoint and North Idaho.

It's impossible to put into words what this could mean to all of us. How do you measure the number of lives that could be changed?

We will be asking our educational leaders, our elected officials and concerned citizens to share with the board of education what this facility could mean.

This is an exciting time to be in Bonner County.

It's our hope we seize the moment.

David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.