In the outskirts of the county near its border with Santa Clara
County in a dirt lot of nearly 90 acres, Kevin Chambers, who is the
manager of the Portola Valley Training Center in Menlo Park, has
plans that could change the landscape of the Frazier Lake Road
area.
Menlo Park
Kevin Chambers has a dream – and it’s a dream that involves San Benito County.
In the outskirts of the county near its border with Santa Clara County in a dirt lot of nearly 90 acres, Chambers, who is the manager of the Portola Valley Training Center in Menlo Park, has plans that could change the landscape of the Frazier Lake Road area.
His proposal is to build a 60-acre event center that would focus on equestrian-style games in the unincorporated part of San Benito County, on Frazier Lake Road near its intersection with Shore Road. The large center would have a large event facility with stadium seating, more than 10 arenas that are both covered and open, and nearly 700 stables. The main stadium would have the capacity to hold 3,834 people.
The plans, which have evolved during the three-year planning process, call for six different parking lots that would total nearly 1,300 spots and a 6,000 square-foot restaurant.
The entire center will be more than 2.6 million square feet, and currently only a gated entryway and man-made hill show what the land could look like.
The project is a culmination of Chambers’ and his dad Wendell’s dream to establish and routinely hold a “world-class equestrian event.”
From 1997 to 2002, the Chambers were living that dream, holding the Portola Valley Classic Equestrian Festival at their business in Menlo Park, which they bought in 1990 but eventually the costs caught up to them.
The crowded training center wasn’t fit for a yearly equestrian event, Kevin Chambers said. With the lack of space, the event was “basically on top of itself.”
Despite receiving top awards, including best horse show of the year in its inaugural run, it wasn’t making much money, he said. Because of its small size, it was difficult to bring in donations for prize money and other festivities.
“We need to have a bigger venue that can attract those donors,” Chambers said.
In addition to its small size and lacking purse, the event’s structures were all temporary.
“Everything you see was temporary – and that’s a lot of extra labor,” Chambers said. “All of that labor is brutal.”
And permanency is what the Frazier Lake Road site would bring, Chambers said. With a larger space and more room to move, events can be bigger and draw more people.
“It could have up to 20 horse shows a year – it’s not realistic right now, but you have to dream big,” Chambers said.
And the events don’t have to be just horse shows, Chambers added. He hopes to hold dog shows and other events, including weddings. It also would serve local horses that become ill, Chambers said. In its plans, the project has a satellite equine medical center run by Russ Peterson, who oversees the main office in the Portola Valley.
Look for the full story in the Pinnacle.
