1955: Bellingham School District buys five acres on Lindberg Avenue for a vocational school after running evening classes for years out of the Sehome elementary school on High Street.

SEPT. 4, 1957: Bellingham Technical School opens its doors, after construction costs of $561,980, almost half of which was provided by the state Legislature.

APRIL 13, 1958: Bellingham Technical School is dedicated with 20 instructors for 16 programs and 336 students. James E. Bowen is director.

1961: Bellingham Technical School is renamed Bellingham Technical Institute. Raymond Smith is named director.

APRIL 1967: The Community College Act passes the Legislature, turning almost all vocational and trade schools and junior colleges into community colleges. Only five vocationaltechnical schools remain in the state, including Bellingham Technical Institute.

1970S: Bellingham Technical Institute is renamed Bellingham Vocational-Technical Institute. Campus expands with 10 new buildings.

1972: Lawrence Belka is named director of Bellingham Vocational-Technical Institute.

1982: Desmond McArdle is named director. 1984: Lengthy discussions about merging Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Vocational-Technical Institute end, to the pleasure of its employees.

1987: Bellingham Vocational-Technical Institute celebrates its 30th birthday, with 40 programs and 17,447 students.

MAY 1991: The governor approves the Community and Technical College Act, putting the five vocational-technical schools under the jurisdiction of the college system, rather than local school districts.

SEPTEMBER 1991: Bellingham Vocational- Technical Institute becomes Bellingham Technical College.

MAY 1996: Bellingham Technical College begins offering associate degrees for graduates in 18 programs.

2001: Gerald Pumphrey is named president of Bellingham Technical College.

2003: Haskell Center, the first of several new state-of-the-art buildings, opens. School receives state Center of Excellence designation for the Process and Control Technology programs.

2004: The Northwest Technology Center opens. The building will be renamed the Desmond P. McArdle Center on Saturday, May 17.

2006: Desmond McArdle is named interim president after Gerald Pumphrey leaves for a job at South Puget Sound Community College.

2007: The Morse Center opens, expanding capacity for students in welding and automotive programs. Tom Eckert is named president of Bellingham Technical College.

2008: BTC celebrates its 50th anniversary.

SOURCES: Bellingham Technical College, Bellingham Herald archives