JOHN DAY — The Blue Mountain Eagle’s local newsgathering and advertising will continue as it has even though the building they operate from is now for sale.

Carpenter Media Group, which purchased the Eagle’s parent company on Nov. 1, has listed the 3,924-square-foot building at 193-195 N. Canyon Blvd. in John Day for sale at a price of $425,000.

The single-story structure just north of Main Street has housed the Eagle’s operations since it was built in 1997 and also serves as the John Day office of the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicles Division.

The Blue Mountain Eagle is not for sale, and Eagle staff will continue to produce content for publication online and in the weekly East Oregonian newspaper.

The building sale is in keeping with Carpenter’s philosophy of leasing, rather than owning, office space for its publications across the United States and Canada. 

“Rather than investing in real estate, our goal is to invest in local journalism so we can provide the communities we serve with the best possible news coverage and advertising services,” said John Carr, Carpenter Media Group’s vice president for Oregon.

With that in mind, Carr said, the company will either seek new office space for the Eagle’s staff in a convenient and prominent location in the community or will lease back the current space from the building’s new owner once a sale is completed.

“While we might be moving to a new office at some point, the Eagle isn’t going away,” said Bennett Hall, the publication’s editor. “We’re going to keep on reporting on local affairs, telling the stories that matter to Grant County residents, and providing our advertisers with a highly effective marketing platform for their goods and services.”

If a decision is made to move, plans will be publicized in advance by the Blue Mountain Eagle.

The current office at 195 N. Canyon Blvd. remains open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, call the Eagle at 541-575-0710 or email editor@bmeagle.com.