Fowler Middle School's new building will be shorter, wider and missing its original gym after the Tigard-Tualatin School District overhauled the project's design, pushing groundbreaking back to fall 2027.

Soil testing revealed that preserving the school's large main gym was no longer practical, Your Oregon News reported Tuesday, Aug. 25. The earlier design, presented in June, had treated the gym as an anchor point for the entire new building.

Salvaging it would have required mixing concrete into the soil to keep it stable, a process district officials said was not practical given the work involved and the costs.

The classroom building has also been reduced from three stories to two. The district said the shorter structure will improve visibility and mobility inside and "blend more naturally with the surrounding neighborhood."

Property purchases fund new track

To make room for a running track and football complex, the district is buying two parcels adjacent to the school's south side near Southwest Walnut Street. Those purchases will use the district's acquisition fund, which is restricted to real estate purchases, and will not draw from the $421.3 million bond voters approved in May 2025.

The extra land also preserves the Susan McCormick Baseball Field. The district said the field cannot be replicated elsewhere on campus or in the district because of its size and the site's other constraints.

Students stay put during construction

Jordan Mills, TTSD's director of communications and school relations, said students will remain in the current Fowler building throughout construction.

"The great news is that the building is going to remain the current building but will remain intact until we're ready to move children over," Mills said.

The new school will be built where the current running track sits. Once students move into the finished building, the old school will come down.

Timeline shift

Groundbreaking has slipped from June 2027 to fall 2027. The district still tentatively expects the new Fowler to open for the 2029-30 school year.

The Fowler reconstruction is the largest single project in Measure 34-342, the bond program that also covers renovations at Bridgeport, Byrom, Durham and Mary Woodward elementary schools, plus work at Tigard High, Tualatin High and Creekside Community High School. The district has not announced a public meeting date for community input on the revised design; families can track updates at ttsdschools.org/bond.