Bend residents voice relief at news of reduced COVID-19 restrictions

'It means our industry is really going to have an opportunity to break even'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Deschutes County has been moved into the Moderate Risk level in COVID-19 safety guidelines as announced Tuesday and effective on Friday.

Restaurants and entertainment venues will be able to operate at 50% capacity, inside and outside their businesses, under the new risk level announced by Gov. Kate Brown.

Bill McCormick, owner of the Pine Tavern in Bend, says he hoped this moment would have happened sooner, but considers this a newfound freedom for many, especially his employees.

“It means more jobs, and it means our industry is really going to have an opportunity to break even, for the first time in a year,” McCormick said.

It’s no secret that restaurants have been one of the hardest-hit industries by the Covid-19 pandemic, but another industry that has been greatly affected as well is entertainment.

Ray Solley, executive director of the Tower Theatre, says the theatre has had multiple closures and reopenings over the past year, due to Covid-19 guidelines. With Deschutes County moving to the Moderate Risk level, he says plans are underway to have the theater reopen in early April.

“We were not able to reopen in the High Risk category a couple of weeks ago (moving from Extreme Risk) -- that only really allowed us 50 people in the theater," Solley said. "Now that we can go to 100 people, we will be back at the levels that we were in November -- and that makes the potential revenue pencil out a little better.”

Pre-pandemic, he says, the theater averaged 65,000 visitors a year.

Solley says the community has helped support his theater through the closures by either donating the funds from canceled performances or applying the credit to future shows.

“Over and over, the citizens of Central Oregon have stepped up in a rally gratifying way and said to us, ‘We want the Tower to be there when we are ready to come back,'” Solley said.

Bend resident Mike Phillips says he’s been enjoying the limited activities available during the pandemic, like skiing and snowboarding, and is happy to see that people can start enjoying themselves with eased restrictions.

Phillips said dealing with the Covid-19 restrictions has not been easy.

“So I will definitely go out, and I’ll be conscious of other people,” hes said.