The Forge ice rink started with a long drive—the kind that eats an entire Saturday. Too many Central Oregon families have spent half a weekend in the car, chasing a single sheet of ice in another town. We are the parents, coaches, players, and skaters who made those drives. The Forge Ice exists because we grew tired of the status quo and decided to fix it ourselves.  

Why The Forge Ice Exists

The need here is not abstract to us. Central Oregon loves ice, and access has not kept up with that love. The Pavilion, Bend’s only rink, runs about five months a year as a seasonal, open-air sheet. For everyone who wants more, the options run out fast.

So families drive. Some log three hours or more, each way, for consistent ice time. Youth programs fill before the season even starts. Adult leagues keep waitlists. Skaters from Redmond and Prineville feel the squeeze too. We experienced every one of those headaches long before we drew up a single plan. We watched talented kids quit because the logistics wore their families down, and grown adults give up a sport they loved for lack of a place to play. Those losses are quiet, and across a region this size, they add up.

Built by the People Who Live It

The Forge is built by community members, for the community we belong to. We coach the teams, drive the carpools, and lace up for the same early-morning beer-league games. This project answers to neighbors, because the people building it are the neighbors. You might see three of us at the same youth game on Friday night, then around a planning table on Monday morning.

That ownership shapes every choice. It shows up in the price of a public skate, the welcome at the front desk, and the decision to stay debt-free so the doors never close. When you build something for your own kids and friends, you build it to last.

From Carpools to Blueprints

The idea grew in rink lobbies and parking lots, in conversations between parents who kept asking the same question: why do we have to leave Bend to skate? Enough of those conversations turned into a plan, then a feasibility study, then a real campus design. The people who felt the problem are the same people who chose to solve it.

The Mission: Forge Resilient Humans

Our name is a promise. A forge turns raw material into something strong through heat, pressure, and time. Sport does the same thing for people. We want this place to forge resilient humans, on the ice and off it.

A nervous kid learns to fall and get back up. A shy teen finds a team and a locker room full of friends. A worn-out parent finds a community that feels like home. Skating is where it starts, and the strength it builds is what carries into the rest of life. That mission drives the vision for the entire project.

Why Now

The timing is not a guess. Bend keeps growing, and the appetite for ice has outpaced the supply for years. Nationally, the cost of youth sports has climbed 46% since 2019(opens in new tab), pushing access further out of reach for everyday families.

A community-owned rink pushes back on that trend by keeping ice local and affordable. The need is loud, the demand is documented, and the community is ready to act. Waiting another decade only sends more families down the highway. The moment to build is now. Bend has the people, the passion, and the plan in place. What it needs is the ice.

Be Part of the Story

We’re building The Forge for three reasons that never change: a problem we live, a community we love, and a mission worth the long hours. We would love for you to follow along as it takes shape. Read more about the people and the plan behind The Forge, then sign up for our email list to follow the journey from vision to opening day. 

Bend has carried this dream long enough. Let’s forge it together.