NEWPORT Ore.
Oregon Coast Community College has been without a home for 20 years.
Administrators rent office and classroom space wherever they can find it between Yachats and Lincoln City. English teacher Sharon Beardsley’s classroom for the past 15 years has been at a former Newport bar. Genevieve Gray, 19, takes math and business classes at an old fire hall.
“Sometimes you don’t really feel like you’re going to school,” Gray said. “You feel like you’re going to the old fire station.”
After two failed attempts, the college finally persuaded Lincoln County taxpayers to float a $23.5 million bond that will pay for campuses in Newport, Waldport and Lincoln City.
The $16.5-million centerpiece is set for Newport. The campus will be on a 25-acre parcel that’s a half-mile from Highway 101 and safely out of the tsunami inundation zone.
