Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) will host a grand opening celebration for its new agriculture complex – the Facility for Agricultural Resource Management, or FARM – on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 4:30-6:30 p.m.
The event takes place on the Pendleton campus, 2411 NW Carden Ave., and is open to the public. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, assisted by the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce, will take place around 5 p.m.
BMCC President Cam Preus will speak, as will Board of Education Chair Chris Brown and BMCC agriculture faculty. Light refreshments and tours of Gthe new facility will be available.
The facility was made possible through a voter-approved bond in May 2015, and cost $6.3 million to construct, including $2.1 million of state match and Lottery funds. It is the last of the three major bond construction projects to reach completion, following the opening of the Workforce Training Center in Boardman in early April and the Precision Irrigated Agriculture Center located at the Oregon State University Hermiston Agriculture Research and Extension Center in late-July.
Other improvements funded by the bond were completed on the Pendleton campus last summer and this summer for renovated student use spaces, safety and security improvements, and HVAC/electrical updates.
A renovation at the BMCC Milton-Freewater Center was also completed this summer. Thursday’s grand opening will coincide with the opening reception for a special exhibit at BMCC’s Betty Feves Memorial Art Gallery, also from 4:30-6:30 p.m. The Gallery will exclusively host Oregon State University’s Art About Ag: “Places to Thrive” exhibit through Oct. 26. The exhibition features fine art by professional and emerging Pacific Northwest artists that is inspired by, based on and portraying agriculture and this year’s theme of “Places to Thrive.”
Event attendees are encouraged to stop by the Gallery following the FARM grand opening celebration.
