The Forge Community Iceplex is gaining ground in Bend, and the proof keeps piling up. The project has real traction, moving steadily from vision toward groundbreaking. The milestones below replace vague optimism with progress you can verify. If you have been watching from the sidelines, consider this your sign that the project has legs. Capital is coming in, the plan is set, and the community is showing up. Each milestone is one more reason to believe, and there are more on the way. Here is where The Forge Community Iceplex stands today, and where it is headed next.

The Forge Community Iceplex by the Numbers

The capital campaign has raised $10 million toward a $40 million goal, roughly 25% of the way there. Seven founding donors have already signed on. Our email list has grown to nearly 1,000 community members, and it climbs every week.

Every dollar reflects a real commitment, and each one is a vote of confidence in year-round ice for Central Oregon. A debt-free campaign like this runs on exactly that kind of grassroots belief, and it is showing up. Momentum on a capital campaign tends to feed itself. Every gift makes the next one easier to ask for, and every new supporter brings a few more along. The pace is picking up, the goal is in clearer view, and the case for joining now keeps getting stronger.

A Plan You Can See

Momentum is easier to trust when you can see it, and now you can. The design is complete, and the renderings are live. Tour the facility, from the two NHL-regulation sheets to the warm, mountain-lodge lounge and its crackling fireplace. All 70,000 square feet of it.

Behind those images sits real rigor. A feasibility study, a market analysis, and an operational pro forma all back the plan. Our vision is pressure-tested by people who build and run facilities for a living. It is detailed, it is costed, and it is ready to build. The homework is done, the numbers are known, and we’re ready to break ground.

The renderings also show the pieces that make this more than a rink: the pro shop, the gathering spaces, and a campus designed for how Central Oregon actually spends its time. Every detail points to a place built for the whole community to use, all year long.

A Community Rallying Behind It

The energy around The Forge keeps building. Families, local businesses, and longtime hockey supporters are getting behind the project. Local outlets such as The Bulletin and Central Oregon Daily have begun covering The Forge. The conversation is spreading from group chats to dinner tables across Central Oregon.

The timing fits a much bigger trend. Across the country, the sport is surging, and USA Hockey reported record youth participation in its most recent season. Central Oregon feels that same pull, and now it has a year-round home taking shape to meet it. Interest like this is hard to manufacture. You can feel it building, and that is one of the surest signs a project is real.

Progress on the Ground

The biggest milestone of all is the one we are working toward right now: a permanent home for The Forge. Work to secure the site is actively underway, and we are making real progress toward locking in the ground where the rink will be built. The full details are coming soon, and we will share the location and the path to groundbreaking once everything is final. Once the site is locked in, the project shifts from planning toward construction, and that is when momentum truly accelerates.

What’s Next

Our work is far from finished, and that is the exciting part. In the months ahead, the campaign will keep climbing toward its goal, the plans will move from paper to permits, and the project will edge closer to breaking ground. We will keep sharing milestones here as they land, in plain numbers and real updates.

There is more news on the horizon that we are not ready to share just yet. When the time is right, you will hear it here first. For now, the direction is clear, and the pace is steady. The Forge Community Iceplex is moving from a bold idea toward a finished building, one milestone at a time.

How You Can Be Part of It

People build momentum like this, and there is always room for more of them. Whether you follow along, spread the word, or back the build, you help carry The Forge Community Iceplex toward opening day. Keep an eye on our ongoing updates, because the next milestone is never far off. The best time to join a project is while it is still being built, and that time is now.