The Hermiston City Council unanimously supported the proposed site plan for the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center (EOTEC) Tuesday night.
The support came after the Umatilla County Commissioners issued their support earlier in the day. The EOTEC Authority Board will now consider the site plan at its next meeting on April 25. Site plans are available on the city of Hermiston website at www.hermiston.or.us/eotec.
The site plan was presented to the public for comments at meetings in Hermiston, Milton-Freewater, and Pendleton earlier in the month. The new plan will result in an event space for the Umatilla County Fair and Farm City Pro Rodeo The new space will be twice the size of the current facility in downtown Hermiston. The land where the current fairgrounds sits has already been purchased by the Hermiston School District to accommodate growth at the high school and avoid the higher costs of building a second high school.
“This is the most win-win-win deal I’ve ever seen in my life,” said City Councilor George Anderson about moving the fairgrounds out of downtown Hermiston to the EOTEC site south of the Hermiston Airport.
The EOTEC Authority has set May, 2016 as the goal for completion of phase one of construction, in time for the 2016 Umatilla County Fair. Construction is planned to begin on the EOTEC in late 2014, and is expected to take approximately one year to complete, according to John Frew, president of Frew Development Group who is acting as project manager for the development.
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