The weather outside was frightful but members of the Blue Mountain Community College Board of Education met Jan. 17 via Zoom and renamed the under-construction Facility for Agricultural Resource Management II building.
The project now is the Blue Mountain Equine Center, BMCC President Mark Browning said.
“The genesis for this really goes back 10-plus years when the idea started to gain some traction for this type of facility and at the time, we were also in the planning stages for what we know as FARM I here on campus,” Browning said. “The story that I’m told is they really didn’t have a good moniker to place on it. So it became FARM II by default.”
Browning said the decision to get an official name for the facility came out of a need to start slotting some of the outside infrastructure that will go with the building such as ordering signs. The college worked with its partners, the city of Pendleton through the city’s convention center and the Pendleton Round-Up through the Round-Up Foundation.
“We’ve been fairly regular on the project to keep each other updated on how things are coming along,” he said, “and bandied about a number of different ideas. We really wanted something that helped to drive that original intent, that while this is a gathering place and a place of education, it really is primarily centered around equine education.”
Browning said there certainly are other types of educational offerings set for the building, but an equine center really is at the core of what the school and its partners are trying to accomplish with the facility.
“We have a number of different programs, ranging from all kinds of animal health sciences to veterinary technician assistant, those kinds of things,” he said. “In terms of planning where the future will go, we’re taking our cues from industry and what is going to be the best use to the equine industry here locally and regionally.”
The college can kick-start a veterinarian career, Browning said.
“That has always been an interesting one here for us being so close to Pullman, and their veterinary school there,” he said. “We have a partnership with Colby, Kansas, on our veterinary assistant program where students do the first years with us and then transfer to Colby. That’s a very strong program for us. I envision there will certainly be new opportunities with a facility like this.”
Not all equine activity is science; there’s also the sport of rodeo.
“Oh, certainly,” Browning said. “The BMCC rodeo team will use the property as a practice facility and we are anticipating community education events that involve not only equine but animal husbandry and 4-H, things that have very direct community connection and contribution back to the people who support us.”
The project hit a snag when the county was considering collecting a substantial amount of property tax from the college because of the development.
“I think the biggest thing is that it’s collaboration,” Browning said. “We’ve had very good partners to work with, and the county assessor’s office has been terrific to work with, and our coordination back with the (Oregon) Department of Revenue, who reviews this as well. Everybody has been very amenable and it’s been a great demonstration of what we do here in our region, which is we work together.”
Browning said he is not forecasting a construction completion date.
“There have been elements that have been underway, either from planning or design for well over a year,” he said. “We got a little late last week with cold temps in the weather, but we’re hoping for a break and then we can pick back up, but there’s so much more that goes into one of these projects before you ever turn dirt.”
Browning said he does hope for a completion date before the next Pendleton Round-Up, which is Sept. 11-14.
