Almost 10 years after the idea was born, a group of citizens urged Bulloch County Commissioners Tuesday to revisit the agriculture arena portion of plans for the Bulloch County Center for Agriculture.

What began as a dream of an expansive agriculture center, with a "one-stop-shop" building for agricultural agency offices, a convention center, and indoor and outdoor arenas and stalls for multipurpose events stalled after the office building construction.

Economics and other obstacles put the second phase of the project on hold, but Commission Chairman Garrett Nevil said Tuesday "we need to put this back on the front burner."

Michael Muldrew, assistant district attorney with the Ogeechee Judicial District, told commissioners he spoke for several people in the audience, including his family, who are active in the equestrian community in Bulloch County.

Muldrew said hundreds of Bulloch County area riders visit equestrian facilities across the state to attend shows, and pay for stall rental. He said some facilities stay so booked they turn away countless events, and that one facility manager told him he turned away enough equestrian activities to keep a Bulloch County arena booked year round.

He pointed out a recent report in the Statesboro Herald that stated equestrian trail rides have a Georgia Farm Gate value of $4,800 annually, and that Bulloch County has about 2,000 horses in boarding, training and breeding facilities with an annual value of $8,000,000.

Farm Gate values list about 700 horses raised in Bulloch County, with an annual value of $1,750,000, according to the report.

But Muldrew emphasized that the plans former commissions had for the facility involved much more than horses and equestrian activities. "The vision was an agricultural business center."

Previous discussions by former commissioners, steering committees, and others involved in past discussions about the project have noted the proposed facility and arenas can be used for farmer's markets, cattle, goat, sheep and llama shows, equipment expositions, car and truck shows, Motocross events, crafts shows, dog shows, truck and tractor pulls and more, Muldrew said.

There is about $6 million in the bank set aside for the agribusiness center and arena project, he reminded commissioners. The money came from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

With the current economy situation, this is a good time to build, he said. "I would hate for us to miss this opportunity" to take advantage of lower construction costs.

Bringing people to Bulloch County to a facility that offers stalls, a covered arena and open arena, would greatly benefit the county. "Thousands of citizens in Bulloch County would benefit from this." The county spent a large sum of money funding a study years ago that predicted such a facility would "generate $20,000 a year in motel/hotel taxes," he said. The study, of which Muldrew has a copy, also predicted the facility would pay for itself and not be a burden on taxpayers.

"Let's get the ball rolling again for this," he urged commissioners. Studies also showed out-of-town visitors would spend over $1 million a year in the area. "There's no reason to think this would not be a resounding success."

Muldrew asked for a show of people in the audience who came to support the move. About 25 stood.

Commissioner Roy Thompson asked Muldrew about an arena in Dublin. Muldrew deferred the question to local equestrian Dennis Pope.

"It's a nice facility, but it's just a shell," Pope said. There are no stalls for rental, which limits out-of-towners to one-day shows.

Statesboro-Bulloch County Parks and Recreation Director Mike Rollins told commissioners that having stalls for rent would be the facility's primary income, in addition to rental of the arenas.

Pope said 300 riders from Bulloch County will be traveling to Gainesville this month to show horses. There will be likely 100 horses needing stalls, in addition to other people from other areas. If Bulloch County had such a facility, people from all over the region would spend money on stall rental, food, lodging, gasoline and other needs, he said.

Muldrew again pointed out that this would be the case in any event, not just equine events.

He also disputed consultant reports that the facility would cost anywhere from $15 to $28 million to build. He said he has seen the numbers and a suitable facility that would make Bulloch proud could be built for anywhere from $3 to $6 million.

Bulloch County Manager Tom Couch said water and sewer would be a major expense, but "I think we could come to terms with what we can live with, what we can start with until we can improve it."

"We have plenty of people in Bulloch County who know more about it than consultants," Muldrew said.

"We'll see if we can't get this back on the front burner and give it some attention," Nevil said.

Commissioner Walter Gibson said he has had constituents mention having a farmer's market facility, and said he has spoken to vendors at other markets who said they would support one in Statesboro.

Billy Hickman, who was head of the original steering committee regarding the project in the late 1990's, reminded the commission again that equestrian events would be only a part of the possibilities.

"The main thing we all need to remember is this is a multipurpose facility, not a horse facility," he said. "We could do anything there. They (those who conducted the preliminary studies) told us as many people would use this facility as (the number) that use Mill Creek Park."

Commissioner Anthony Simmons recalled earlier discussions about the proposed facility. "We envisioned tractor shows, anything like that we could use it for," he said. "I think the board appears we should move forward with something Bulloch County can be proud of."

Nevil asked citizens to give input and refer commissioners to other facilities that can be reviewed for ideas. He also said a committee may be formed to head the project.

Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at 912-489-9414.