Purina Farms New Event Center - provided by gsdbydesign.com

Show Time in the Show Me State

Editor’s Note: Look for updates on the new Purina Event Center in Today’s Breeder magazine. The publication follow the progress and periodically give you sneak peeks at the new indoor event center.


Images courtesy Today's Breeder

The Show Me State will soon reach a new dimension when the new multi-million-dollar, world-class indoor Purina Event Center opens in the fall of 2010. Custom-made for dog shows, the state-of-the-art facility will be ideal for all-breed dog shows, national specialties, obedience and agility trials.

The 84,000-square-foot Purina Event Center will attract thousands of canine enthusiasts from across the country to about 40 to 60 events a year. The facility is being built at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Mo., 45 minutes from downtown St. Louis and the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and will complement existing venues for outdoor dog shows, lure coursing, agility, obedience, herding and earthdog trials.

A ‘Best in Show’ Event Center

The new Purina Event Center will be loaded with amenities to help ensure your all-breed or specialty show is a “Best in Show” event. Among the features:

Main exhibition Hall with custom padded flooring to provide optimal comfort. This hall is the size of a football field, minus the end zones.
A 13,500-square-foot Benching and Grooming Area with easy access to the dog bathing room and water station.
A fully equipped show office complete with built-in sound system, phone and office equipment, plus work and storage space.
A second-floor meeting room that can be used for hospitality for judges or volunteers or for educational seminars.
Ample parking for RVs, complete with electrical, water and sewer hookups.
Food service and a 7,500-square-foot banquet room that can accommodate the largest of events.
Several drop-off entrances for exhibitors unloading grooming supplies and equipment.
No fee parking, and ample parking for exhibitors and visitors.

“The indoor event center will be a fabulous building,” says Cledith “Clete” Wakefield, president of the Spirit of the Heartland Kennel Club and show chairman of Jefferson County (Mo.) Kennel Club. “I don’t know of any other indoor facility in the country set up just for dog shows.”

Both the Heartland and Jefferson County all-breed kennel clubs, along with the St. Louis Dog Breeders, are part of the Gateway Cluster, a three-day dog show held each May and September at Purina Farms. Since organizing eight years ago, the cluster has grown in entries and profits, with the clubs reaping the financial benefits.

“We draw attendees from 31 states and typically have from 1,200 to 1,300 entries,” Wakefield says. “We expect to increase significantly, maybe even to 1,800 dogs, with the new indoor building. With an outdoor show you always worry about the weather and the chance of rain. With the indoor center there will be much more control.”

Already reservations are being taken for events starting in the fall of 2010. Brock Fitzgerald, Director of Purina Farms and the new Purina Event Center, has been meeting with specialty and all-breed clubs to preview the new facility. “We look forward to working with clubs and offering them the Purina Event Center for their events,” he says. “We promise to deliver ‘Best in Show’ amenities and to do everything possible to ensure their events go smoothly.”

“Best in Show” is exactly how Wakefield describes the Gateway Cluster at Purina Farms. “Purina Farms has been a fabulous location for us. We’ve been very successful, and Brock is always trying to help our cluster grow. He and his staff are wonderful hosts. We get great feedback from the AKC representatives and judges. We have a formula for success that’s working.”

Located in the heart of the country, the Purina Event Center will be situated among 300 acres of gentle, rolling hills that make up Purina Farms. Outdoor dog shows an sporting events have been held at the Canine Activity Event center and Canine Competition Center at Purina Farms for 15 years. As a result, Purina was aware that the dog fancy had been seeking an indoor canine event center centrally located in the center of the country.

Already reservations are being taken for events starting in the fall of 2010. The new 84,000-square-foot center sports a banquet facility and food services, a 13,500-square-foot benching and grooming area, and a second-floor meeting room for seminars. among other amenities.

David Frei, Director of Communications for the Westminster Kennel Club and co-host of the NBC-televised “The National Dog Show Presented by Purina,” applauded the announcement. “Purina has always been supportive of the dog show world, and the new Purina Event Center is yet another example of that dedication. All of us who are active in the sport of dogs thank Purina for continued commitment to the sport, and we look forward to being part of the future at the Purina Event Center.

Easily accessible by major highways for people traveling from all parts of the country, the new event center is within 10 minutes from several hotels that accept dogs and two with grooming facilities. In addition to ample RV parking on site, five campgrounds are nearby. Only minutes from metropolitan St. Louis, visitors can enjoy attractions such as the AKC Museum of the Dog, sporting events including Cardinals baseball, Rams football and Blues hockey, the Fox Theater, St. Louis Symphony, St. Louis Zoo, Gateway Arch, Magic House, St. Louis Science Center, many museums, and riverboat casinos.

“We are very much looking forward to holding our upcoming Gateway Cluster at the new indoor Purina Event Center,” Wakefield says. “This building will offer optimal accommodations for a dog show and the staff works so hard to please. It just doesn’t get better than this.”

How to Book a Dog Show
For information about booking an event at the new Purina Event Center, which opens in the fall of 2010, please visit www.purinafarms.com or contact Brock Fitzgerald, Director of Purina Farms and the new Purina Event Center, at 888/688-PETS (888/688-7387) or email brock.fiitzgerald@purina.nestle.com.

Used with permission from Today’s Breeder, Nestle Purina PetCare Company.

More info:

St. Louis Business Journal

EMissourian.com

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