Joe Kline / The Bulletin file photoThe Bend Premier Cup soccer tournament returns to Bend this weekend.

Slower than expected fundraising is delaying the construction of four artificial turf fields proposed for Bend’s Pine Nursery Park.

The fields are intended as a partnership between the Bend Park & Recreation District and Bend FC Timbers, a local soccer club formerly called Oregon Rush.

Prior to the passage of the district’s 2012 parks bond, the soccer club committed to raising $2 million for the fields, with the district providing land for the fields at Pine Nursery Park and $1.5 million in bond funds for parking lots, restrooms and other improvements in the surrounding area. The soccer club would be responsible for maintenance and scheduling on the fields for 30 years starting in 2014.

Under the original deal between the club and the district, Bend FC Timbers was to have raised $1 million of its $2 million commitment by Oct. 1 of this year. As of now, the club has raised approximately $464,000 in cash and in-kind commitments.

Ryan Shore, a member of the Bend FC Timbers board and its past president, said Tuesday the group may have overestimated its fundraising abilities.

“We’re not professional fundraisers,” Shore said. “We are the largest youth sports organization in Central Oregon, but a campaign like this, I think it’s just a lot larger than we thought.”

In January 2013, Shore said the club hoped to complete its fundraising by early 2014 and possibly construct the fields that year.

Bend FC Timbers is now proposing an extension to the 30-year lease, and breaking the construction into two stages, with the first two fields to be constructed by late 2020, with the second two completed by 2025.

The cost of the project is now estimated at $4.7 million, and Bend FC Timbers is now seeking to raise $3.3 million over 10 years to cover its portion of the project. The park district would not be obligated to contribute additional funds.

Shore said construction cost estimates have gone up since the 2012 agreement with the park district, and the proposed fields have gotten slightly larger to accommodate rugby, lacrosse and football. He said Bend FC Timbers is working with local nonsoccer youth sports organizations to help boost its fundraising potential.

Constructing the fields in two phases should improve fundraising for the second phase, Shore said, as would-be donors would be able to see what kind of facility their donations would help build.

Matt Mercer, recreation director with the park district, said the district’s ability to provide field space should not be significantly affected by Bend FC Timbers’ fundraising difficulties. The district does not currently have plans to develop new athletic fields before 2019-20, he said, and added that demand for field space in Bend remains high.

“By taking care of their needs, they take care of our needs,” Mercer said. “There’s definitely a trickle-down effect, and we’d rather see the fields built sooner rather than later.”

Shore said Bend FC Timbers expects user fees from games, practices and tournaments will be sufficient to cover all maintenance for the fields, and for the eventual replacement of the artificial turf after roughly 15 years.

The club is exploring all options in its fundraising, Shore said, seeking grant funds, large donors and corporate sponsors interested in buying naming rights to the field. The nearly 2,800 players in the club’s programs are helping out too, he said, and raised $36,000 last year by doing baby-sitting, lawn mowing, and other chores for neighbors and family friends.

“The 10- and 11-year-olds may get to play on these fields, but for some of the 15-, 16-year-olds, they’re doing it for maybe their kids some day,” he said.

— Reporter: 541-383-0387,

shammers@bendbulletin.com