City council approves agreements involving the new BMCC Equine Center

PENDLETON – The long process of creating and constructing the Blue Mountain Community College Equine Center is nearing completion. The Pendleton City Council has approved agreements concerning the management of the facility, which will house an arena for the BMCC rodeo team.

“This was a pretty colossal cooperative effort between three large entities – the city of Pendleton, the Pendleton Round-Up, and Blue Mountain Community College,” Councilman Addison Schulberg said.

Also involved in the process, which began in 2020, have been the Happy Canyon Foundation and Company, the InterMountain Education Service District, and Umatilla County. The city had committed $150,000 and donated parcels of property that had been acquired over several years. All of those partners had worked to solicit funding from the state. BMCC recently obtained $13 million in grant funds for the construction of the center.

The agreements that were approved by the council this week include a land lease between Pendleton and the college, a management agreement that puts the Pendleton Convention Center staff in charge of overseeing bookings and managing events, an affiliation agreement with the college and Pendleton Round-Up Holdings LLC to address possible conflicts, and an option agreement with Round-Up Holdings that would gives Round-Up the option to acquire the lease during the first 30 years and the building and the lease for another 30 years thereafter.

City staff members report that the Equine Center is expected to bring significant benefits for the college and will provide increased tourism in Pendleton, especially during the winter months. It will be the new home of this year’s Cattle Barons Weekend May 2-3.

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