Bend residents plead to spare downtown’s Troy Field

Twenty disgruntled Bend residents expressed dismay over the potential sale and development of Troy Field at a public meeting Wednesday night at the Bend-La Pine Schools headquarters.

“Bend will be a poorer city for having one more condo,” one woman said during her public testimony.

Another said, “Downtown Bend is losing its soul by covering every space with private, high-priced things.”

A few dozen people attended the meeting required by the city as the school district moves forward on plans to remove a zoning designation declaring the land a civic and public space. Other than that designation, the land is already zoned for commercial use.

More than 500 people have signed an online petition to preserve the field.

Many want to see the space turned into a public park or square — anything other than what’s being proposed: a hotel or condominiums.

Bend 2030 spokeswoman Erin Foote Marlowe said her group envisions a new public square, much like the “Heritage Square:” proposed some 20 years ago by late Deschutes County Commissioner Barry Slaughter.

“Bend 2030 is excited that the sale of Troy Field could lead to the creation of a more permanent public gathering space called Heritage Square,” Foote Marlowe said.

Bend resident Jessica Born teaches at a nearby church and told school officials how much the park means to her and her students.

“We use Troy Field at least three times a week through the school year,” Born said.

Protesters also urged the district to remember the field’s history, talking about football games played on the field more than 100 years ago and when the space used to be a laundry facility and an ice rink.

The field, which is not a formal Bend park, currently is used by playing children and dogs and for the occasional impromptu sports match. The popular Earth Day Parade is also staged at the space.

But the school district says it needs the money and has no use for the land. It approached other public entities to see if they had interest in buying it, but no deal was reached. School officials have agreed to sell Troy Field for nearly $2 million.

“We want to use those funds to look to other land that we can use within the school district for school sites to add capacity,” said district Chief Operations and Financial Officer Brad Henry.

Although the school district plans to move forward and seek changes to the designation, Henry added there’s great interest by all involved to please the community.

“As we continue the discussions with the city, with the developer — they’re very interested in developing something that fits within that vision of this area,” Henry said.

Portland-based developer Brownstone was not at the meeting Wednesday night.

Bend-La Pine Schools rejected an offer from the city of Bend to buy the property.

“The amount that was offered was not at the level of the other offers that we had received at the time,” Henry said.

The city will get the final say on whether to approve changing the field’s zoning designation.

District officials say they not sure when they will file the application to the city for removing the public facilities designation.