La Grande School District opens second Tiger Homes house to public
La Grande students showed a second Tiger Home at 3rd Street and I Avenue, a project that has already sent one house to Grande Ronde Hospital and now backs an eight-year buildout.
A second Tiger Home now stands on 3rd Street and I Avenue as proof that La Grande School District’s housing project is doing more than drawing applause. The open house on Wednesday, June 3, showed a program built to give La Grande High School students real construction experience while adding a house the community can use in a tight market.
District officials said about 27 students worked directly at the site and roughly 80 students contributed in some way, making the project a districtwide hands-on lesson rather than a single-class showcase. Students worked alongside local contractors and tradespeople who served as instructors, gaining experience in carpentry, metal work and the other skills needed to finish a home from the ground up. Superintendent George Mendoza has said the project grew out of two local needs: affordable housing and training students for local careers in the trades.
The first Tiger Home, completed on Feb. 28, 2025, after almost 18 months of construction, showed how that pipeline could work. Built as a two-townhouse-unit project at 905 and 907 I Avenue, the roughly 2,200-square-foot home was later purchased by Grande Ronde Hospital to house medical providers, including incoming and traveling staff. The district said that first build was supported by a $515,000 federal funding allocation, along with help from community partners.
Those partners have been central from the start. The district’s list has included GCT Land Management, Gust Tsiatsos, Grande Ronde Hospital, Woodgrain, Boise Cascade, Miller’s Home Center, the City of La Grande, Eastern Oregon University and Union County Commissioners. District leaders said the project took six years of planning, researching and strategizing before construction began in August 2023, after a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Aug. 8, 2023. The effort also included land purchases and new construction classes designed to prepare students for the work.
The second home’s unveiling gave the district a chance to show whether Tiger Homes can scale beyond a first success. In 2026, La Grande School District said the project will continue for eight more years, and the district has said it has secured additional land across from the current site for future development. For Union County, the measure of success is becoming clearer: more students trained for well-paid trades, more local partners at the table and more housing that can move from classroom work to community use.
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