GRAY SUMMIT, MO-The $10 million Purina Event Center opened Wednesday, in what may be the only indoor facility built specifically for dogs, The facility, on the 300-acre Purina Farms campus, has reportedly already taken on 10 show events for the next year.

The Switzerland-based Nestle SA subsidiary built the new 84,000-square-foot center to serve as one of the nation’s premier locations to hold indoor dog shows and training events. Purina Farms already serves as a prime destination for dog lovers as an outdoor show and training facility.

Groups that have scheduled shows already at the indoor center include the Three Rivers Kennel Club of Missouri, the United Flyball League International, the Belleville, IL-based Belle City Kennel Club and the Golden Retriever Club of America. Daily rental of the facility is reportedly $1,000. “We realized we needed a catch-all building that would offer additional services to clubs and our guests,” said Brock Fitzgerald, director of Purina Farms. Show organizers have said they will move their events to this new facility because of its protection against unpredictable weather.

The facility includes a 45,000-square-foot exhibition hall, a 14,000-square-foot benching and grooming area, a 350-seat banquet hall and parking that can handle more than 120 RVs. “Our goal is to support them with everything they need and want for the dogs, themselves and the sport,” Fitzgerald said.

Nestle Purina PetCare, the Swiss firm’s pet food US headquarters, is based in nearby St. Louis and is also building a new facility. The $15 million Learning and Training Center will go up on the company’s 55-acre, 1.3-million-square-foot Checkerboard Square headquarters complex. The company said it hopes to complete the 56,000-square-foot office building by December 2011.