OBS Pavilion, Office Makeover Well Underway

If you’re attending the Jan. 25-26 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s winter mixed sale, don’t look for horses to enter the sales ring the same way they always have.

Rather than a counter-clockwise entrance—coming in from the left door and exiting through the right—this time OBS will use a clockwise routine, all part of the extensive pavilion makeover underway at the Ocala, Fla., sales company.

With the project including a major expansion of the dining and commissary services adjacent to the rear entrance chute on the right of the building, it was necessary to reverse the flow of horses.

The project, which had long been planned by OBS executives and board, started late last year and led the sales company to cancel its October mixed sale, which has subsequently been replaced on the sales calendar by a yearling sale formerly held in August.

With a targeted completion date of this October, the enhancements will include a new and reconfigured entrance and lobby area; a concourse that wraps around the auditorium; new general offices; an enhanced dining area adjacent to a bar with a view of the back holding area; meeting space for agents, consignors, and clients; a new van agent counter; a new video room; larger restrooms; and an auctioneer’s stand in the rear.

OBS sales director Tod Wojciechowski said the sales company will not disclose the cost of the project. He added that except for a few minor setbacks not uncommon when adding new construction to an existing building, the project is proceeding on schedule.

Left almost unchanged will be the rear covered walking ring, which was the last major OBS project when completed some eight years ago, and the ever-popular tiki bar. The main seating area inside the auditorium will be smaller to allow for the concourse.

Considering the small window of opportunity to get as much done prior to the January sale, OBS and Ocala-based general contractor McLauchlin & Company focused on completing the exterior block wall for the expanded building.

“The plan was to get as much of the exterior done as possible in the window we created by cancelling the October sale because that is the most intrusive part of the process,” Wojciechowski said. “So we needed to get as much of the exterior structure done in that window.”

While January sale attendees will find a temporary cashier’s office, a display inside the auditorium for videos, and a temporary commissary area, OBS and the contractor have worked hard to minimize any inconveniencies.

"Plans to do some upgrades have been on the backburner for awhile,” said Niall Brennan, a major consignor and OBS board member. “We just to had to finally go, knowing it would take us probably a year to complete the project while scheduling around the 2-year-old sale season.”

Brennan said the completed project will go a long way to enhancing OBS’ status as a world-class sale venue.

“I think it will be fabulous when it is finished,” he remarked. “A lot of effort and detail has gone into planning it. We are just trying to keep pace and invest in the sales company’s future, and to do that you have to invest in your facilities and create a really first-class environment for people to come to. We have a lot of international buyers coming to our sales and they need to be at a first-class facility. I think it will really showcase OBS and the Ocala horse industry.”