MT. PLEASANT, Sanpete County — Work is under way on the first structure in a 100-acre complex designed to be one of the focal points of the new National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area.

Officials and citizen activists broke ground last week for a 50,000-square-foot equestrian arena on property at the south end of Mt. Pleasant, one-quarter mile west of U.S. 89.

The arena, which is designed to house not only horse competitions but events such as car shows, concerts and trade shows, will put 1.2 acres under roof and be the largest public building in Sanpete County.

But the arena is just the first piece of a long-range plan for the complex, to be known as the Sanpitch Recreation and Heritage Center, said Mt. Pleasant City Councilman Monte Bona.

Other facilities in the plan include an outdoor horse practice and racing track, horse stables, an RV park, cowboy museum, living history farm, replica pioneer village, public swimming pool and 2-mile hiking trail.

The Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area runs along the corridor of U.S. 89 from Fairview to Kanab. The Sanpitch Recreation and Heritage Center is near the north boundary of the heritage area.

What is now U.S. 89 was one of the main pathways Mormon pioneers followed as they spread out from Salt Lake City to colonize the West. Congress designated the corridor as a national heritage area in 2006.

"It's been a long time coming," Mt. Pleasant Mayor Chesley Christensen said as he broke ground for the arena. "It'll probably be a long time before it all comes together. … It's a long-range, ambitious plan. It certainly gives me great pleasure to get started."

Perhaps the most notable thing about the equestrian arena and complex as a whole is that it is the product of a grassroots effort. A citizen group started campaigning for a covered arena more than five years ago. Sanpete County turned the project down repeatedly, but the group persisted.

About two years ago, Kevin Stallings, a Mt. Pleasant businessman, along with other grassroots supporters, recruited Wasatch Academy, a private boarding school in Mt. Pleasant, as a partner in the effort. The school offered to lease the arena for much of each year for its equestrian program. That provided a base source of operating funds.

Then the group approached Mt. Pleasant, which agreed to sponsor the project and donate 100 acres of city-owned land.

As discussions between grassroots supporters and the City Council continued, the vision for the property broadened.

Mt. Pleasant received a $565,000 grant and $1 million loan from the Utah Community Impact Board for the arena. The supporters incorporated a nonprofit organization. The city is contracting with it for construction management and the group is doing the work at no charge.

Rep. Brad Winn, a Republican House member from Ephraim, told the groundbreaking crowd that the arena reminded him of a statement by Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world."

E-mail: suzanne@sanpetemessenger.com