Downtown Bend’s Troy Field could be history

Troy Field has been used by many open space-lovers in downtown Bend since the early 1900s. It was named after the Troy Laundromat.

Kids used to play football there. While it made its mark in history, the field could soon be history, as the Bend-La Pine School District thinks about selling the land.

“Yeah, Troy Field has a lot of history in the town,” resident Denise Rowcroft said .

A historic sign beside the property says, “Generations of bend children and many adults enjoyed free public ice skating in the 1940s and 50s.” The field fits neatly into the corner of Louisiana and Bond Street. It takes up one full city block.

“There’s not stuff happening here every day,” Rowcroft said.

For that reason and others, the school board determined that it’s surplus property.

“We’re not in the business of doing parks,” said board member Andy High.

The school district offered the area to the city and the park district, but neither was interested.

“We’ve decided to take it to market and see what’s the best use for that property, because we can’t build a school on it,” High said.

It’s value comes from the fact that it’s undeveloped, and right on the south end of the downtown core. High says it could go for millions.

While they’re testing the market, he also mentioned it’s not a done deal. They have the power to reject offers or accept them.

“Someone could just want it because they could want to own a piece of downtown Bend,” High said.

If the price is right, High says the school district will sell. The money will go toward buying other properties for expansion needs.

The board says it should know for sure how much they can get for the parcel in the next 10 days.