School’s back in session and students are utilizing school playgrounds. And thanks to bond funding, the students at East Elementary School will soon have a brand new play structure to utilize during recess.
In May 2025, voters supported Measure 29-182 that created a bond for TSD9 worth $25.35 million with an additional $6 million grant awarded from the Oregon Capital Improvement Match Funds. All projects outlined for bond funds will finance critical safety and improvement projects to various district facilities. Projects have been prioritized based on safe schools, healthy students, and responsible stewardship. This bond is not a new tax to tax payers, but an extension of the current tax rate of $0.69 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
East Elementary’s former playground consisted of several pieces of equipment in poor-shape and were not designed for intermediate age students.
“Our fourth graders would definitely play on some of the equipment, but the fifth and sixth graders were really not as interested,” East Elementary School Principal Kara Rhodes said. “There was a lot that was breaking. It was really old and outdated.”
The new play space is nearly 10,000 square feet with roughly $250,000 of new equipment. Installation began in July; a ribbon cutting ceremony was hosted on October 15, 2026.
“There are some very unique pieces that we picked. It will be one of the nicest playgrounds in town,” TSD9 Bond Advisor Randy Schild said. “We selected items we thought would be best for fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders, but also with the understanding that this playground is a community resource and much younger kids will play on it when school is out.”
Equivalent to recess for the older kids? Fall sports at Tillamook High School are well into their seasons. And a new fieldhouse is in the works for the athletic department.
The old THS fieldhouse was identified as a very needed project due to the building’s deteriorating condition and need for additional athletic practice space and storage. The fieldhouse, estimated to have been built in the 1950s, was demolished in July. Construction of the new facility is actively ongoing.
The new fieldhouse is expected to be an 8,000 square foot, stick-frame building. The new structure will be built in roughly the same location; 20 feet east of the running track. “The fieldhouse will be a multiuse facility. It will include large restrooms, an area where the girls wrestling team will practice, golf practice facilities and roll up garage doors that open right onto the track,” TSD9 Bond Advisor Randy Schild said. “Visiting teams can use it as a locker room, and there will be space for track equipment storage as well as for the wrestling mats.”
In addition to the building, the project also includes the addition of nearby handicap parking spots, a new 60 foot flagpole, and the relocation of the main field scoreboard.
The slab for the fieldhouse was poured on September 30. The entire project is anticipated to be complete by spring 2027. In addition to bond funds, a portion of the project is being financially supported by the Robert Riggert Family Foundation.
