After years of planning, Bend FC Timbers fields finally open

Teams began using fields this month after three months of construction

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Bend FC Timbers finally have a place to call home. After seven years of fundraising, three months of construction and $2.5 million, the club team can call two new synthetic turf fields at Pine Nursery Park home.

Through the years, the clubs, 28 teams have played on school fields as well as private and public park, on fields not suitable for winter weather.

These new turf fields need little to no care. They can also still be used even if snow becomes an issue, because of the fields' ability to be plowed.

The soccer club broke ground on the two fields in late September. They will service about 3,200 soccer players year-round.

Bend FC Timbers operates 28 club teams and two public recreation leagues.

Tara Bilanski, executive director of Bend FC Timbers, said she’s surprised by just how happy the players are about the new field.

"Every kid that I come across, my own players, we all kind of do a little dance when the lights come on,” Bilanski said. “It's just funny, because they are more excited than I thought they would be. So that's make me happy to feel their appreciation."

Despite the fields being on Bend Parks and Rec District property, they are privately operated by the Bend FC Timbers. The fields are open to the public, at a fee. For $75, one field can be rented for an hour on a weekday, while weekend rates are $100 an hour per field.

Some local high schools and sport clubs have already begun using the fields, according to Bilanski.

“I’ve got ultimate frisbee out here and they are on a couple nights a week,” she said.

The main benefit of the turf fields are the ability to use them year-round, something the teams could not do previously.

"It’s really nice, because last year when it snowed a lot we couldn’t play until February,” player Hazel Sparks said.  

Isabelle Schiller, another Bend FC Timbers player, shared the same sentiment.

"It's really awesome we get more practices in," she said. "We had to practice indoors during the winter last time, and now we get outdoors and the same conditions we would get in Portland, so now we get to bring that to Bend."