On Friday, February 28th, La Grande School District celebrated the completion of its first home build of the La Grande High School construction program. After almost 18 months of construction, the first Tiger Home was open for touring by school staff, students and community members.
The project is two townhouse units built by LHS students enrolled in construction classes. The project provided hands-on, Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities for students, while also addressing critical housing needs in the La Grande community. The new home, located on the corner of 3rd Street and I Avenue, will be purchased by Grande Ronde Hospital to house medical providers.
At the opening celebration, speeches were given, many community partners were thanked and people toured the beautiful, new home.
Parker McKinley, Tiger Home Construction Teacher at LHS, said it was very exciting to be standing inside the completed project. “I think from the time we started this whole thing from the ground up and had the vision of what we wanted it to look like, it’s checking a lot of boxes and I feel good about it,” McKinley said.
LHS Assistant Principal Eric Freeman said there have been ups and downs with the project, just like with any other construction project, but he is very happy about the experiences that students have gained from working on it. “This is a new extension and piece of the CTE program at LHS which is providing more opportunities for students to explore future careers.”
The Tiger Home project was made possible by a federal funding allocation of $515,000 for the school district as well as support from community partners. La Grande School District thanks:
Contractor Gust Tsiatsos and the GCT Land Management Team, Senator Merkley, Jessica Keys, Grande Ronde Hospital, Woodgrain, Boise Cascade, Miller’s Home Center, The City of La Grande, Eastern Oregon University, Union County Commissioners, Curt Berger and Columbia Basin Student Homes, Jon Dickover and Sherwood High Home Construction, TMC Construction, Team Oregon Build, Valley ICF, Travis Stitzel and many more partners who made it possible.
The district is poised to start construction of the next Tiger Home, located on the same lot as the first unit, as well as purchasing property for future projects.
