The Mallet Event Center and Arena started with a simple drawing on a piece of paper in 2009 and now it has become a reality for Hockley County in 2012.
Wendy Scott, director of the Mallet Center, said it has been rewarding to see this project finally come together.
"To listen to people discussing this 15 or 20 years ago, I didn't think they were serious about it," Scott said. "They just knew the facility they used to be in and thought that they needed something better and finally started to take that dream and make it a reality."
This $15 million event center and arena is the new "it" place for all things agriculture.
"The biggest part is our arena," Scott said. "Our dirt floor arena floor is 150x300. It is dirt on dirt which is huge for horse people. We can hold 1,933 people, and we can seat another 200 on the floor if we did a concert."
The center was intricately designed from the familiar circular patterns around the facility taken from crop circles the architect saw when flying into the area to the wave like designs that are meant to resemble a horse's mane. The details are even in the dirt.
"We can adjust the type of dirt that we have on the floor," Scott said. "We can make it wetter for particular events, and we can add more sand to it. We can change the dirt as a whole based on the needs of our clientel."
The Mallet Center is not limited to the arena nor is it limited to agricultural functions.
"Our banquet hall seems to be what people are the most exicited about," Scott said. "It is about 15,000 square feet and we call it the beautiful area because it is where we see the weddings and the quinceaneras. We have two fire pits outside on our gorgeous patio, and our sound system is immaculate."
This West Texas Hot Spot is filling up and filling up fast.
"Already for 2012 and I say 2012 because we have events booked already up to 2014," Scott said. "This year we have 64 events booked thus far."
Scott said it has been amazing to see the broad reach of their new facility with seemingly endless possibilities for shows and events of any kind.
"We've got people booked from Oklahoma, from New Mexico and even a county north of Houston called and asked what we were building and they immediately wanted to visit."
Scott said having the Mallet Center opened for business has the community buzzing with excitement for the future of this area and all that West Texas has to offer.
"People are starting to see the big picture," Scott said. "The Mallet Center is not just great for Levelland. The Mallet Center is not just great for Hockley County. The Mallet Center is great for all of the South Plains."
The Mallet Center is slated to host its first event on Thursday.
