The campus is quiet at a time when students should be gearing up for the last push to raise their grades. Back when the closing was announced, some thought it was only a matter of time before Blair followed the school.

"I think it is going to be very sad for Blair,” said graphic design student Kali Brayfield at the time. “I know a lot of their economy does depend on Dana and the students and the money we spend."

Blair Super Foods used to be a hangout for the Dana kids. The draw was the cheap breakfast and good food. “We were basically within walking distance for a lot of them,” said Randy Backman, who manages Blair Super Foods.

He says sales are off a little, but he misses employing the college students. Since the campus cleared out, he says you could feel a change in the community, a sense of loss that some may still be mourning.

“Still, even today, we get customers in here and you can tell the mood of the whole community is still kind of shook up from them leaving. It is going to take awhile to get over that."

At the Video Express store, Chad Thompson says everyone has taken a hit. His business closes earlier now because the college students were the night owls and there is no need to stay open until 9 p.m. He senses something different about the community, not a decline in morale, but a pulling together to help each other out.

“I think it has gotten a little tighter because they saw such a big loss with the employment, you know, the different jobs that we lost from the school. It almost tightened the community up a little bit."

They are bonds that Thompson says would grow stronger if another institution took over the Dana campus and brought back the students and the spirit missing since last June.

Locals tell Channel 6 News there has been some interest in doing something with the now-abandoned campus, but nothing definite so far. A security team and groundskeeper are still working to keep it maintained.