The new Deschutes National Forest welcome center along Century Drive is set to be finished by early fall .

Builders are busy framing walls and the roof, Kassidy Kern, national forest spokeswoman said Monday.

“Most of the underground work is done,” she said. That includes plumbing and electrical wires.

The Cascade Lakes Welcome Station sits at the corner of Century Drive and Forest Road 41, the road leading to Lava Island, Dillon Falls and other access points along the Deschutes River Trail. Century Drive connects to the Cascade Lakes Highway, providing access for people looking to hike, fish, boat and more in the Cascade Lakes portion of the Deschutes National Forest.

“It’s probably a useful place for people to get information … ” said Peter Murphy, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The national forest used to have an office off of Century Drive, but it moved to northeast Bend in 2011.

After years of planning and a delay caused by an appeal, the Deschutes National Forest broke ground on the welcome station project in October. Constructing the building should take less than a year, with Kern saying the building is set to be finished this September.

The welcome station will likely cost $1.7 million, Kern said. More than half of the funds — $900,000 — come from a Federal Highway Administration grant designed to support projects along national scenic byways. The rest comes from money the national forest brought in when it sold much of the Pine Nursery site in northeast Bend to the Bend Park & Recreation District in 2004 . The property, which has become home to Pine Nursery Park and Ponderosa Elementary School, sold for $3.5 million.

Originally proposed in late 2008, the project faced an appeal by Central Oregon tourism interests in 2010, according to Bulletin archives. The appeal — brought by the Deschutes County Committee on Recreation Assets, an ad hoc committee established by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in 2007 — questioned whether the building would provide access to nearby trails or simply be a place to stop for information.

Responding to the appeal, the national forest added plans for trail access parking and a tunnel to allow safe passage under Century Drive in 2012.

The welcome station will have parking space for trail users and links to nearby trails.

“So people can travel from Bend out to the welcome station and then to the river and (a) variety of other trails,” said Jean Nelson-Dean, another spokeswoman with the Deschutes National Forest. The welcome station is set to be staffed in spring, summer and fall, but not winter.

— Reporter: 541-617-7812, ddarling@bendbulletin.com