Interest is high in designing Blue Mountain Community College’s new Hermiston center.

Representatives of 37 architectural firms from throughout the Northwest want a piece of the action. Nearly 50 people representing the firms attended the college’s pre-proposal conference Monday.

Susan Plass, BMCC’s director of grant programs, said those attending represented 22 firms from Oregon, including 17 from the Portland area, one from Hermiston and one from Bend. There were 12 firms from Washington, including six from from Tri-Cities and three from the Spokane area. There also were three from Idaho and one from Montana.

BMCC President John Turner addressed the architects and others briefly, then answered questions about the estimated $8.5 million project.

That’s the minimum, he said. If the college can raise more money through grants or perhaps a bond levy, the project could grow to $9.6 million.

College administrators envision the new Eastern Oregon Higher Education Center covering 28,000 to 32,000 square feet, Turner told the designers. It should accommodate 15 to 20 classrooms, including two science laboratories and a computer lab. It also would include some faculty offices.

“We would like to have students in class two years from now, in 2011,” Turner said.

BMCC officials plan to open the bids for architectural services at 3 p.m. Oct. 14. They will invite the top three or four candidates for interviews the next week.

Turner said he hopes to present a recommendation to the college board Nov. 4 and to offer a contract to the successful applicant Nov. 5.

“It’s going to be a great addition to higher education in Eastern Oregon,” Turner said.

Topher McClellan, BMCC’s grant accountant, said the college received more than 140 inquiries about the project, but some of them included suppliers and subcontractors, including some from the East Coast.

Turner was pleased with the turnout in Pendleton. About a third of the group drove to Hermiston afterward to look over the 6.7-acre site. It is north of Columbia Boulevard, across from BMCC’s Hermiston Center.

“This is about what I was expecting,” Turner said after the conference. “I don’t think we’ll have any problem coming up with four to five very qualified candidates to interview.”