Downtown Bend is about to become even friendlier. Doug La Placa with Visit Bend says they are about to open up a brand new Bend Visitor's Center. "It will be a state of the art visitor's experience right in the heart of downtown Bend. The new Visitor's Center is approximately 2500 square feet. It's a really exciting move. It's going to be a Visitors Center that our city and our tourism industry can be proud of." La Placa says they have been working on getting the new digs for about two years, and now, they've signed a 10 year lease. The expanded space can allow them to offer the site to the community, as it has a large conference room for meetings and other functions. The new Bend Visitors Center will be at the corner of Oregon and Lava, next to the downtown post office. It's set to open in mid-August.