Redmond is undergoing a sort of renaissance, with significant projects underway that will expand cultural and recreational options and change how drivers navigate the city’s east side. Much of the new activity is driven by public input and the passion of those involved.
Diving into The Hub
Katie Hammer has two words to describe how she feels about the future: “Very excited.” She celebrated her 35th anniversary as Redmond Area Park and Recreation District’s executive director in September. “As a district, we have been working to build a building that would better meet our community needs for decades, so to see this happen, it’s super exciting!”
It’s still months away from completion, but the 56,000 square foot Hub Aquatics and Recreation Center in southwest Redmond is under construction. Hammer visits the site every week with her own hard hat.
Currently, RAPRD operates out of the Cascade Swim Center on SW Rimrock Drive, which it leases from the Redmond School District. It’s the only public pool in Redmond, which means activities are limited. All swim lessons have a wait list. Other programs, like fitness classes, are spread out at other facilities such as the Redmond Senior Center or Pleasant Ridge Community Hall.
The Hub will cater to a growing population. When Cascade Swim Center opened in 1979, Redmond had a population of about 6,500 people. Today, RAPRD serves approximately 52,000, which includes Terrebonne and Tumalo. Estimates from Portland State’s Population Research Center shows the District will likely grow to 63,000 residents in the next 10 years and 75,000 by 2047, which is a 60% increase over its 2020 population. Trying to serve all ages within the District can be challenging. According to RAPRD’s 2025 Master Plan, a third of the households include children under the age of 18. Nearly half of the District’s population is between the ages of 25 and 64.
A community survey found that swimming and water safety classes were the only programs where more than half the respondents, 58%, participated in the recent past. That same survey found that 19% expressed the greatest need for swimming programs, followed by adult sports.
To bridge the gap, The Hub will have two pools. A 25-meter lap pool will have eight lanes. A second pool will include a lazy river. A giant, covered, spiraling water slide in the corner of the building will take riders outside the building and back in before gently landing them in a shallow, 6-inch flume, making it safe for all ages.
The Hub will have a hot tub, locker rooms, a gym, two fitness rooms for yoga and other classes, a walking track and a court that will be a shared space for basketball, volleyball and pickleball during different times of day. There are two party rooms, one adjacent to a kitchen, which will be used for cooking classes and as a rental space. A childcare room will also be available for parents using the facility.
The exterior is expected to be finished before winter weather sets in, then crews will finish up the inside, pouring concrete into pools, finishing walls, laying down flooring and adding finishing touches. In May, a problem with the paint peeling above the pool area required it to be redone, causing an estimated four-month delay. A generator will help the facility serve as a shelter during an extreme emergency.
The Hub is expected to be open sometime next summer. Once it opens, the Cascade Swim Center will close to the public. The road to the finish line for The Hub has been a long one. RAPRD first went for a bond in 2008, but voters defeated it, primarily because a location had not been identified, Hammer said. RAPRD bought 10 acres at SW 35th Street and Lava Avenue just off Highland Avenue in 2009. Voters approved a $49 million bond in 2022 but failed to pass an operation levy twice in 2022 and 2024, so the Hub will be opening without one. In the meantime, there’s been a 36% increase in construction costs.
“The district does have a permanent tax rate, so we do have funding,” Hammer says. At this point, RAPRD doesn’t have plans to put the levy on the ballot a third time. “We don’t believe our permanent rate is quite enough to cover the operating expenses for the new building for the long term, but we have reserves set aside so that we will be able to operate that building for the first couple years. And we are in the process of trying to develop some public-private partnerships to raise some private dollars to help with operations.”
Hammer says they’re beginning the process of developing those partnerships, but the program will likely allow businesses to buy naming rights for different areas within The Hub. Hammer says so far one business has committed.
Once open, user fees will be approximately $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and children, with discounted pass options available. Hammer anticipates needing to hire an additional four to five full-time employees and 10 more part-time workers.
The plan, and even the name, have been driven by community feedback. When park board members narrowed the list of names to their top three choices, the public came back with The Hub.
First Friday in December at new art center
Mel Archer has been a glass fusion artist for more than a decade. The board chair for the Dry Canyon Arts Association, Archer seems almost giddy while standing amid drywall dust and construction tools in a historic building in downtown Redmond.
“We’ve been actually working on this for three years, and it wasn’t until Christmas Day of last year we got the notice that this was back on the burner,” Archer told the Source. It’s an exciting time to be an artist in Redmond. The Dry Canyon Community Art Center on SW 6th Street will be a place where Arts Association members and other artists can showcase and sell their work.
“We couldn’t start reconstructing until Aug. 1, so we’re rush, rush, rush,” Archer explains. Construction is furiously underway so the art center can open for First Friday on December 5.
The center is located in the historic Lynch & Roberts building, built in in 1917. The location began as a general store and also hosted the Redmond Potato Show, which preceded the Deschutes County Fair. Archer says the organization wanted that spot because of the massive windows along the front, allowing art to be visible from the sidewalk, hopefully enticing people to enter. The front of the building will be filled with artwork, which will rotate every two months. The public will be able to walk in and view the display or purchase a piece. There will also be a gift store featuring locally made jewelry, hand-dyed silk scarves and other small items. The nonprofit Arts Association will receive a 30% commission for each item sold, with the artist getting 70% of the sale. Eventually, artists who are not members of the Dry Canyon Arts Association will also be featured.
“I think we’re hoping for next November, a year from now, it’ll be local veterans. Then probably next May we might have high school students,” Archer says.
At the back of the art gallery are classrooms where local artists will begin offering classes early next year. In 15 months, the art center will grow even larger, adding 1,500 square feet, when Housing Works moves out of its space at the back of the building. When that happens, Archer says the plan is to add workshops for activities like pottery and ceramics.
The entire operation is volunteer-based and a labor of love. The Dry Canyon Arts Association started with 19 members back in the year 2000. Today, there are 196 members.
“Artists want to show their work… We got tired of keeping it in our closets,” Archer explains.
Even with the focus on the new art center, the annual Fall Art Show hosted by the Dry Canyon Arts Association will still happen Nov. 15 & 16 at Redmond High School. During the fall and spring art shows, raffle tickets help raise money for Jump Start Arts, a visual art education program in Redmond elementary schools.
“Last year we raised $72,000. So, if we hadn’t been doing that, there is no art education in the elementary schools,” Archer says with a proud smile.
“We are so incredibly grateful for their generosity and continued support of art education in our schools,” says Logan McGinnis, public information officer for Redmond Schools.
The Association relies on community support. Archer says funding comes from an angel investor and grants, and they’re in the process of selling sponsorships to pay for operations. “There’s been over 100 people who have donated at the $100 and up level. And then you get into the $1,000 and up level, there’s been quite a few. And we’re just now going out and seeing corporate sponsors,” he explains. They also divided the building in half, with a new spa going in next door.
Katie McCarthy is on the other side, opening a medspa called Redefined Wellness. She previously worked as a nurse practitioner but left to work in medical spas. Her facility will offer facial treatments and medical esthetics including Botox, filler, microneedling and lasers, along with a red-light bed, cryotherapy and sauna, and other providers, including a functional medicine nurse practitioner and a chiropractor. McCarthy hopes to be open by late December or early January.
The French doors that’ll divide the space between the wellness spa and art gallery are intentional. McCarthy wanted the beauty of the art gallery to be seen from her waiting room.
“Both entities are so unique, but so community-based, and we get to play off that with each other which is cool,” she says.
Community hub of learning and discovery
The flurry of activity happening in Redmond right now was preceded by the completion of a new library, replacing the old one at the corner of SW Deschutes Avenue and 9th Street. The design was a collaborative effort between library staff and the public, which gave input through a survey.
Library Director Todd Dunkelberg says there were four specific categories the public wanted. Two-thirds of respondents asked for an interactive space for children, focused on discovery and learning, which led to activities encouraging mobility, play, rhyming, music, letter awareness and more.
“We have areas where kids can be mobile, climbing around on things,” Dunkelberg says. There are tunnels, a play kitchen, a music area, a game to match shapes and comfy, low seating.
The community also wanted multi-use spaces — private spots to work or meet with other people. The result is three community rooms, one meeting room and four private study rooms which can be reserved for free.
“We actually have people driving out from Bend to use it because there aren’t free spaces,” Dunkelberg told the Source, noting that a similar design will be included in the new Central Library in Bend, expected to open by June.
One of the most unique areas in the Redmond library is the MakerSpace, where visitors can use a sewing machine, wood cutting machine or 3D printer.
“To be totally honest, it’s so much more popular than we thought it would be. We’re a little overwhelmed. So we’re reconfiguring or hiring more staff to help out with this area,” Dunkelberg said.
The space contains bins full of supplies for making jewelry, laminating, soldering, wood carving, stamp pressing, leather working and fly tying. Dunkelberg says 20 sewing machines were donated to the library. Volunteers are there during certain hours to help first-time users navigate the process.
The public survey also showed a preference for integrated indoor and outdoor spaces. The Redmond library has an outdoor porch that wraps around the building with tables and chairs and an expansive patio area which is sometimes used for special programs. The public also placed high value on library resources and programs.
The library also incorporates commanding works of art. A massive wooden sculpture hangs above the stairway leading to the second floor. “Sage” is meant to mimic a cross section of sagebrush and is the work of Seattle area artist John Grade. Dunkelberg mentioned a plan to acquire another Grade sculpture that represents juniper and the mountains. That and other art is paid for through donations and the Deschutes Public Library Foundation, which dedicates 1% of money raised to art.
Dunkelberg has worked for the Deschutes Public Library system for 26 years and says trying to meet the needs for children, teenagers, parents, people looking for a job, seniors and various other potential library users is challenging, but the Redmond Library may be the closest so far at achieving that goal of community hub.
After opening in January, the new Redmond Library immediately saw a spike in the number of users compared to the previous library. It was built as part of a $195 million bond, which includes remodeling every library in Deschutes County and building the new Central Library on the east side of Bend.
“One of my favorite moments standing in Redmond, I was shelving some books and I was listening to these two people talk to each other. It sounded like they’d known each other forever. And kind of near the end of the conversation, one of them said, ‘Well, my name’s, you know, my name… and I live down the block.’ I’m like, oh! Our community is actually meeting each other here — which was kind of out goal, but to see it happening, especially in this day and age where we really need people to connect, that’s something I’m most excited about.”
Paving the way to success
Coinciding with the surge in cultural and recreational development, the City of Redmond is in the heart of a five-year, $172 million roster of Capital Improvement Projects. It’ll touch everything from sewers to roads to ice skating. The bulk of activity is going on now, 2025-26, with work continuing into 2030.
The plan includes a stop light at SW Highland and SW 35th Street where the Hub Aquatic Center is being built, but the biggest road project is the east side arterial, which will provide an alternate route to South Highway 97. It’ll help alleviate congestion around the airport, which is undergoing a massive expansion expected to be complete in 2028, and the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, which is in the process of developing a master plan for future development. The extension of Airport Way from Veterans Avenue to Highway 126 will also open access to the old Juniper Golf Course for commercial development. The City of Redmond is building three roundabouts in the area. Three legs of the new roundabout at NE 9th Street and Highway 126 have already opened. The final leg will open next year when a roundabout near the airport is finished.
“The development of public infrastructure and services are critical to ensuring the ongoing quality of life for residents,” says Redmond’s Deputy City Manager Steve Ashworth.
Another major project is the city’s new wastewater treatment plant at the Redmond Wetlands Complex. “Once the existing wastewater treatment plant is no longer operational, planning will take place to decide how best to utilize this site, which may include expansion of park amenities within the Dry Canyon,” says Redmond’s Director of Public Works Jessica MacClanahan.
A smaller part of the CIP includes a permanent ice rink. Redmond permanently closed its downtown ice rink in 2024 due to significant mechanical failures. City staff are currently working with the City Council to determine the scope of the project.
“The goal is to provide a boutique-style winter ice facility for the winter months that can be utilized for public activities during non-skating months,” Ashworth told the Source. “The facility will most likely have restrooms and a small concession for skate rental but mostly be an open-air facility. The location of the park is immediately east of the library on the property that housed the old police station.”
The CIP covers 32 projects and is reviewed every winter by the City Council.
“The City programs its capital improvement projects considering both financial and staffing resources,” MacClanahan says. “Specific project schedules are subject to change based on other factors such as permitting or right of way needs, but the City feels confident that the projects listed are generally representative of the work plan for the next 5 years.”
Ashworth says, “The investments in public infrastructure the City of Redmond continues to make are strategic in accommodating growth in a sustainable and positive manner with a focus on retaining our small-town charm.”
This article appears in the Source October 30, 2025.
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I live in the Redmond recreation district. You would be hard-pressed to find a home in the district that is further away from the forthcoming rec center than mine. I voted against this rec center and I find it outrageous that people who don’t want this still have to pay for it. The entire project is a giant boondoggle as seen by the delays and cost overruns, which result in those who did vote yes getting less than they voted for. Of course, I also voted no on the $ to operate the center. Fortunately the no votes prevailed on that issue. Rarely spoke is that if this ever opens not only will property owners be on the hook for the capital and operating budget they will also have to pay fees to use it. The people who run the rec district are worthless and are enabled by the Redmond council. Here’s an idea – attract a real fitness club (Planet Fitness, EOS, etc.) to Redmond. Let those who want to use it pay for it.