A community-owned ice rink is rare in the sports world. Most rinks are built by cities, developers, or banks, and each of those paths comes with strings attached. The Forge is taking a different road: funded by the community, owned by the community, and free of debt. That combination almost never comes together, and it is worth understanding why. It is the kind of project people assume cannot be done, right up until a community does it. Here is what makes The Forge a genuine once-in-a-generation opportunity for Central Oregon.

How Most Ice Rinks Get Built

Ice is expensive to build and expensive to run, so the money usually comes from one of a few familiar places. A city floats a bond and owns the rink as public infrastructure. A developer builds one to turn a profit. A private club opens its doors to paying members.

Each of those models can work, and each carries tradeoffs. Public rinks live and die by municipal budgets and priorities. For-profit rinks answer to investors first. Membership clubs put a price on the door. A rink funded and owned by the community it serves is the uncommon exception, and it changes who the facility ultimately answers to. Bend has seen how fragile those other models can be, which is part of why this community chose to fund and own the rink itself.

Why a Community-Owned Ice Rink Is So Rare

Building any rink is hard, and the numbers show it. The average North American ice rink is now more than 30 years old, largely because new ones so rarely get built. Doing it without a bank or a city makes the feat rarer still.

A community-owned ice rink asks a lot of a region. It takes the will to fund it, the talent to plan it, and the patience to do it right. It takes local leaders willing to put their names on the line and neighbors willing to give before a single sheet is poured. Most places never line all of those up at once. Central Oregon did, and that is remarkable.

What Community Ownership Actually Changes

Ownership is more than a technicality. It shapes every decision a facility makes. Because the community owns The Forge, the priorities stay local: affordable ice, open access, and a genuine welcome for first-timers.

No outside investor needs a return. No distant owner sets the hours or raises the rates from afar. The people who skate here answer only to each other, which means the facility serves its users first, season after season. That accountability is the quiet engine behind the vision, and it is the part that lasts long after opening day.

Debt-Free Makes It Even Rarer

Plenty of community projects start with good intentions and end up leveraged to the hilt. Debt is the quiet killer of rinks, because a loan payment comes due whether the season is busy or slow. The Forge is being built debt-free, which is rarer than the ownership model alone.

Being debt-free means the doors stay open when costs rise. It means every dollar of revenue goes straight to ice, programs, and people. Pairing community ownership with a debt-free build is the combination that gives The Forge staying power most rinks never reach.

A Rare Chance to Build Something Lasting

Projects like this come along once in a generation, if a community is lucky enough to pull it off. The Forge is that chance for Central Oregon, and the window to be part of the founding story is open right now. See how you can help build a community-owned ice rink that lasts for generations, and join the supporters funding it. Rare things get built by the people who show up, and this is our turn to show up.