FARM II is in the design phase
By Terry Murry on Thursday, December 29th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Blue Mountain Community College continues working to move forward with FARM II, proposed and at least partially funded to be built to the west of the Pendleton Convention Center. President Mark Browning says a group is working to contend with price increases in the construction industry without compromising the goal of the building as it enters the design stage of the project.
“We’re trying to figure out how to scale it so the building can still be worth it,” Browning said. “The arena has got to be of enough size so that it can hold events. It’s also an educational facility. What does BMCC need out of it?”
Funding from the Oregon Legislature and matching funds are at hand, but the project as it was originally created would cost about $5 million more to build today than it would have if the funding hadn’t been canceled due to the pandemic-caused loss of lottery funds.
“Where we’re really looking at now is what can we build with the money that we have now and how feasible is it to be able to bridge any kind of a gap that we might have,” he said.
In addition to the state funding, the FARM II project has also received support from the Pendleton Round-Up, Happy Canyon, the city of Pendleton, and Umatilla County.
Graphic is the original design for FARM II
