New nonprofit hopes to keep Central Oregon athletes closer to home with year-round ice facility
Lance Campbell
BEND, Ore. — Central Oregon is known for outdoor recreation, but for local ice sports athletes, access to year-round ice remains limited.
The Forge Community Iceplex, a proposed nonprofit indoor ice facility in northeast Bend, hopes to change that. The project would create Central Oregon’s first dedicated year-round indoor ice facility with two NHL-regulation ice sheets.
Rendering of the proposed Forge Community Iceplex, a planned year-round indoor ice facility in northeast Bend.Rendering courtesy: The Forge Community Iceplex
Organizers are raising $40 million to build a 70,000-square-foot complex featuring two NHL-regulation ice sheets, training space, a pro shop, event areas and a restaurant. Organizers hope to build the facility on a site near Northeast 18th Street and Cooley Road, across from Les Schwab headquarters in Bend, if fundraising goals are met.
Tyler Brower, vice president of The Forge and a founding board member, said the project is being funded entirely through private philanthropy rather than taxpayer-supported bonds or public debt.
“We want our community to feel not only that it’s for them, but it’s theirs,” Brower said. “We are building this as a place where our community can grow and shape and build a future together.”
The Forge operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Brower said the debt-free approach is designed to support long-term financial stability while giving the community ownership of the project.
If completed, the facility would become Central Oregon’s first dedicated year-round indoor ice complex with two NHL-regulation sheets. Bend’s existing public rink, The Pavilion, is a seasonal, open-air facility.
Site plan rendering of the proposed Forge Community Iceplex, showing the planned two-sheet indoor ice facility.Rendering courtesy: The Forge Community Iceplex
Brower said the project is intended to serve families throughout Central Oregon, including Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Prineville, Madras, La Pine, Sunriver and communities beyond.
He said weather and direct sunlight can delay or cancel games on outdoor ice, creating challenges for youth hockey, figure skating and visiting teams.
“Creating this indoor facility is going to solve a lot of troubling problems that our community has had to face and grind through,” Brower said.
According to The Forge, hosting regional and national tournaments could bring as many as 16,000 visitors to Central Oregon each year and generate an estimated $4.4 million in annual visitor spending.
But Brower said the project’s biggest purpose goes beyond tourism.
“Our local athletes are forced with the decision, and their families with the decision, of stay in Bend and give up the performance pursuit of the sport that they love … or leave Bend and have to relocate to another city and state to pursue the sport that they love,” Brower said.
Brower knows that decision firsthand.
He said he moved away in eighth grade to pursue competitive hockey before eventually playing at the collegiate and professional levels. Now, as a coach in Bend, he said he wants future generations of athletes to have opportunities without leaving home.
Graphic showing The Forge’s fundraising progress toward its $40 million capital campaign. Organizers say construction will begin once the remaining funding is secured.Graphic courtesy: The Forge Community Iceplex