City of North Bend release – In about a week, crews will begin the installation of the event tent and synthetic ice skating rink in downtown North Bend! The 60-foot by 83-foot translucent event tent is expected to be installed on November 21st. We want to thank Travel Southern Oregon Coast (TSOC), a regional destination management organization focused on collaborating to enhance sustainable tourism, for its generous $30,000 grant for the purchase of the event tent for the City of North Bend. This tent will be used for years to come for events and festivals throughout the city. Once the tent is installed, representatives from Xtraice will be onsite to supervise the installation (https://bit.ly/3toABUH) of the synthetic ice rink. A holiday market and an artificial ice skating rink are almost essential to making downtown North Bend festive at Christmas. The ecological synthetic ice skating rink is expected to attract people of all ages, becoming the main leisure activity downtown during the holiday season and increasing traffic to our central business district and beyond. If you’ve ever seen “Disney on Ice,” then you’ve seen Disney on synthetic ice. The indoor/outdoor 3,250 sq. ft. synthetic ice skating rink has a 12-year manufacturer’s warranty and 15-year lifespan, and will operate in the central downtown business district between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day. Included in the price are skate shelves, 120 skates in various sizes, double skate sharpening machine, sharpening machine vacuum, rubber floor roll for skate changing area, Penguin and Bear skating aids, installation kit, and assembly supervision. Stay tuned for more details! Q&A: Who Paid for the Ice Skating Rink? Answer: We welcome questions about the operations of your North Bend City Government. During election season, misinformation and disinformation were circulated, stating that North Bend taxpayers were footing the bill for the ice skating rink. This is utterly false. The synthetic ice skating rink purchase, as unanimously approved in a public City Council meeting, cost $74,418 plus shipping and was 100 percent paid for with transient lodging taxes, money collected when visitors book a stay at hotels and motels, bed and breakfast facilities, RV parks, or any other dwelling unit used for temporary stays in North Bend. The use of transient lodging taxes is restricted by Oregon Law, such as investing in related community-development efforts and promoting quality management and further growth in the tourism sector. As suggested on the campaign trail, you cannot pave roads, repair the pool, or buy police cars with hotel-motel tax dollars. Have you got Questions? We’ve got Answers! We welcome questions about the operations of your North Bend City Government. Submit your question or concern at https://bit.ly/3sam1zI
