NASA has Houston, Batman has the Bat Cave and the Pendleton Round-Up has Room 17.

Named after the 17 positions on the Round-Up Association Board of Directors, each with an area or focus of oversight, the room in the south grandstands serves as the board’s base of operations.

Room 17 was established in 1982. Before that, board meetings were in the neighboring Let’er Buck Room.

In the middle of Room 17, stackable chairs surround three folding tables — modest elements for the monthly board meetings.

Dr. Brad Adams, Round-Up director of Room 17 and medical, said he has considered updating the tables and chairs, but expressed high-backed leather chairs often found in “board” rooms probably wouldn’t be fitting for Room 17. The convenience of being able to easily put away the tables and chairs to open up the space is valuable, especially since during Round-Up, when the room serves as “a private, ultra VIP room.”

The board uses the room to host meeting with U.S. senators and representatives as well as governors of Oregon, along with other guests, officials and dignitaries.

The Round-Up in 2010 added a bar to Room 17, commemorating Round-Up’s centennial, and then in 2017 the room underwent significant renovations, a notable change being an extension of the board room by knocking down the wall into the Round-Up president’s office, effectively eliminating a separate space for just the president.

Throughout the years, the room has collected an assortment of memorabilia that showcases the Round-Up’s history, something that could not be done when the board used the Let’er Buck Room.

On one wall, towers a massive mural of Pendleton in 1955, illustrating how much the Round-Up Grounds haven’t changed but how a lot of the surrounding area has changed, such as Roy Raley Park’s old swimming pool, the National Guard Armory and the parking and businesses south and west of the grounds.

Adams said the mural is “the most popular thing in the room,” and people’s eyes are always drawn to it.

On another wall hang photos of all the past Round-Up presidents, directors and queens.

And all of those eyes overlook where the board sits during meetings.