Wild Rivers Center opens at resort

The center is the home for the Wild Rivers Coast Alliance, which Keiser helped create in 2010, and will be used by many of the groups that partner with WRCA.

Keiser paid for the center himself, and is charging WRCA a token $1 yearly rent.

The new facility overlooks a portion of Chrome Lake and the surrounding forest and is located near the resort's caddie center and reservation center.

It includes a central conference room and west and east wings with work spaces for as many as a dozen different groups.

“We have such a wide variety of groups we are involved in,” said Jim Seeley, executive director of WRCA.

To date, WRCA has provided funding to more than 35 groups, which fit under the organization's “triple bottom line” focus of community, conservation and economy.

The organization is funded by proceeds from the resort's par-3 course, Bandon Preserve. As part of Tuesday's celebration, Keiser presented Seeley with a giant check representing the 2014 contribution to WRCA, $627,000.

The group's steering committee approved a number of grants earlier Tuesday.

“We are in the fortunate position of being able to fund the great ideas that these groups come up with,” said Marie Simonds, executive assistant for WRCA. “We feel so fortunate. Mike is an incredible person in his generosity.”

Visitors Tuesday were greeted by Henry the Fish, a sculpture made by Washed Ashore, one of the groups that has been working with WRCA. The organization uses debris that has washed ashore on local beaches to create art sculptures to educate the public about the ongoing problem of ocean garbage.

Henry the Fish moved to Old Town Bandon on Wednesday for Earth Day, but was a fitting part of the celebration. Seeley pointed to Washed Ashore as one of the many success stories of WRCA.

In its first year (2011), the group had a little over 1,000 volunteers and 1,000 students who participated in the program, creating 18 sculptures while collecting three tons of debris. In 2014, the numbers increased to more than 10,000 volunteers and 8,000 students, 30 sculptures and 15 tons of debris.

Another of the big partners has been Travel Oregon, which promotes tourism and will be given permanent space in the west wing of the Wild Rivers Center for its work.

Seeley described the center as a site for “learning, convening and partnering.”

The building was designed by Don Stastny, the resort architect, and built by Harmon Construction. Doug Spiro did the landscaping.

Since the resort opened with a single course in 1999, it has expanded to now include four 18-hole courses and the 13-hole Bandon Preserve. It has hosted a number of regional events and next month hosts its fifth United States Golf Association tournament, the new U.S. Women's Amateur Four Ball Championship.

The resort employs more than 500 people, 99 percent of whom live on the South Coast, and last year had a total payroll of about $17.5 million, or a little more than it cost Keiser to open the resort.

That doesn't include the 300 caddies who work as independent contractors and also contribute to the economy.

Keiser said more than 140,000 rounds of golf were played at the resort last year and that it has attracted more than 50,000 “retail golfers” to the area since it opened.

Keiser has shown his thanks to the community in the form of his philanthropy.

Keiser and his wife have donated more than $3 million to the South Coast community in grants since Bandon Dunes opened, with a strong emphasis on health care, education, scholarships and economic development.

The WRCA has become a separate area of support from Keiser through the resort.

He said he is delighted by how many golfers will pay $100 to play the 13-hole preserve, which benefits WRCA.

In addition to working with the groups it provides grants for, WRCA also is looking for other funding agencies to partner with.