La Grande High’s Tiger Homes project opens new house for public viewing
La Grande High’s newest Tiger Home opened for a two-hour public viewing at 3rd Street and I Avenue, showing how student labor is feeding local housing needs.
The newest Tiger Home opened its doors at the corner of 3rd Street and I Avenue, giving La Grande residents a chance to see how construction classes at La Grande High School are turning shop-floor lessons into a finished house.
La Grande School District said the open house ran Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and showcased the latest completed home in the Tiger Homes program. The district has framed the project as both workforce training and a response to La Grande’s housing shortage, with students enrolled in construction classes doing real work on a structure that can eventually serve local need.
That dual purpose has defined Tiger Homes from the start. The district said the first project consisted of two townhouse units built by La Grande High School students, and the first completed home took almost 18 months to build. That unit was intended to be purchased by Grande Ronde Hospital to house medical providers, a use that tied the school project directly to the community’s struggle to recruit and keep health care workers.
The district said in April that Tiger Homes will continue for eight more years, with additional land secured across from the current construction site for future development. That extension means the open house was not just a look at one finished house, but a preview of a pipeline designed to keep students working on real builds while adding attainable housing in Union County.
Superintendent George Mendoza has said the project was meant to provide hands-on Career and Technical Education opportunities while addressing housing needs in La Grande. Parker McKinley was identified by the district as the Tiger Homes construction teacher guiding students through the work.
The district has also pointed to a broad network of supporters behind the project, including contractor Gust Tsiatsos, GCT Land Management Team, Sen. Jeff Merkley, Jessica Keys, Grande Ronde Hospital, Woodgrain, Boise Cascade, Miller’s Home Center, the City of La Grande, Eastern Oregon University, the Union County commissioners, Curt Berger and Columbia Basin Student Homes, Jon Dickover and Sherwood High Home Construction, TMC Construction, Team Oregon Build, Valley ICF and Travis Stitzel. The project also carried a federal funding allocation of $515,000.
The first completed Tiger Home was previously opened for touring at 903 I Avenue in February 2025 after nearly 18 months of construction. With the newest house now on display and more land already in hand, the district has turned Tiger Homes into a long-running model of student training, community partnership and housing production in La Grande.
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