SIDNEY -- The Blackburn Eye Clinic welcomed the community to hits new location today with a ribbon cutting and open house.

Optometrist Dr. Sean Blackburn has been in Sidney for about 30 years.

"I came here in June of '95. I bought the practice from Dr. Terry Adams. He has his main practice in Scottsbluff. He was my optometrist since I was five years old; kind of a long history there. I've been in a couple of locations," he said today at the open house and ribbon cutting today.

He said the move is in part a result of other practices changing.

"I own this entire complex, and Casey Courtney, physical therapist Sidney Rehabilitation Wellness was here for 15 years. She bought a building and moved, and we decided to move over here," Dr. Blackburn said.

The new location at 927 23rd Ave. triples the space of the former location, Blackburn said. He said the 23rd Avenue location also offers better service to patients with mobility challenges. 

"I'm really proud of our wheelchair and handicap access and utilization now. We have much better facilities to help those that have a harder time getting around," he said.

Dr. Blackburn didn't see optometry as a possible career until an occasion when he was seated as a patient. 

" I was in college, and wasn't sure what I wanted to do, and I had an eye examination with Dr. Adams my second year of college and he recommended optometry. I looked into it, and I fell in love with it. I'm glad I did," Blackburn said.

He said there's not a day goes by that he doesn't love what he does. He describes he work as not just vision, but health.

"I could tell you story after story about how I've changed people's lives, and they've changed mine being part of it. I love children. I love children being able to come in and they're having trouble seeing. Then when you give them glasses they can see something they haven't seen before. That just never gets old. The geriatric population come in sometimes and we find a systemic problem that actually changes their life, extends their life. I could tell you stories and stories of people where we've actually saved their lives. We don't just save eyes, we save lives," he said.

Blackburn Eye Clinic is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.