When you give to a nonprofit ice rink built without debt, your dollar does something different from what it would at a bond-funded or bank-financed facility. It goes straight to the sheet, the programs, and the people who show up every day. No lender takes a cut, no interest payment competes with public-skate rates, and no monthly note sets the affordability ceiling. That is the promise behind the Forge Community Iceplex in Northeast Bend. Our debt-free 501(c)(3) is rising on a seven-acre campus with two NHL-regulation sheets and a mission to keep ice accessible for generations.

What “Debt-Free” Actually Means for a Nonprofit Ice Rink

A debt-free build means we raise the full cost of construction before the doors open. No mortgage payments are stretching across decades. For a nonprofit ice rink, that is a structural choice about who the facility ultimately serves. When a project carries a loan, revenue must cover the note first and the community second. Ice time, learn-to-skate sessions, and open-skate hours all get priced against a debt schedule someone signed years earlier.

The Central Oregon community is fully funding The Forge to remove that pressure entirely. Our $40 million fundraiser will open the doors with the ice rinks, the lodge, and the programs fully paid for. Every dollar contributed today builds long-term equity in a community asset. Organizations that take on debt must generate enough future revenue(opens in new tab) to cover debt service payments on top of all regular operating expenses. This burden shapes pricing and program decisions for the life of the loan. For a nonprofit ice rink, that translates directly into higher session rates and tighter margins on affordability.

Where Your Gift Goes in a Community-Funded Project

Contributions to a community-funded facility follow a clear path. Construction dollars build the ice plant, the boards, the locker rooms, and the lodge. Program dollars seed the coaching staff, the learn-to-skate curriculum, and the introductory sessions that welcome first-time skaters. Long-term dollars protect affordability, so a family in Redmond or Prineville can plan on skating for years without watching rates climb to cover interest.

At debt-financed rink would split that same gift. A portion goes to programs, and a portion services the loan. Over a 25-year mortgage, interest alone can consume a significant slice of every rate hike, every rental fee, and every clinic charge. Removing debt removes that hidden tax on participation. Our facility plans reflect the full scope of what community giving helps fund, from the two-sheet layout to the training gym and gathering spaces.

Affordability, Access, and an Ice Rink That Stays Open

The most durable benefit of a debt-free structure is what it does after opening day. Central Oregon has been without a year-round ice sheet, and demand across Bend, Northeast Bend, and the broader region continues to grow. A facility that opens with no principal or interest to cover can hold session rates lower. It can offer more scholarship slots and keep hours generous enough for youth hockey, adult leagues, figure skating, and drop-in public skates to coexist.

That flexibility is what turns a building into a community hub. Our programs are built for skaters of every age and skill level. The debt-free model helps keep the door open to families who might otherwise be priced out. A gift today is a gift to the schedule 10 years from now.

The Long-Term Promise of Community Funding

Community-funded projects create shared ownership of an outcome. Every founding donor, every family sponsor, and every business partner has a stake in a facility answerable to its neighbors. Our board, led by local hockey families and Central Oregon business owners, is committed to keeping that structure intact through construction and into daily operations.

What Your Gift Buys on Opening Day and Beyond

On opening day, your gift buys ice. It buys the first stride a five-year-old takes at learn-to-skate, the first slap shot a middle-schooler takes in a house-league game, and the first pond-hockey pickup on a Saturday morning. Beyond opening day, it buys years of affordable access, protected by the fact that no lender stands in line ahead of the community. It buys public-skate hours a working family can fit into a weekend, adult league slots within reach of a regular paycheck, and scholarship room for young skaters whose families would otherwise sit out. Every gift compounds into decades of open ice.

Join the founding donors making this nonprofit ice rink possible in Central Oregon, and help keep the ice affordable for the families who will fill the sheet for generations to come.