Tapiola Park: new courts a slam dunk

Published 3:42 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2025

After a successful update to Fred Lindstrom Park, Astoria Parks and Recreation set out to use much of its $20,000 capital improvement fund to hit another home run.

Recreation Manager Tyler Lyngstad and Parks and Recreation Director Jonah Dart-McLean came up with an idea to upgrade Tapiola Park. With baseball and softball fields already in place, the mission was to improve the basketball courts. The two were hoping this upgrade would yield a similar result to what happened at Fred Lindstrom Park.

Since adding in the Pickleball Courts at Fred Lindstrom, attendance at the park amongst locals has skyrocketed.

“Our goal is to focus on parks that are the most popular,” Lyngstad said. “Right now Fred Lindstrom is super popular and the concrete slab at Tapiola wasn’t getting much use since it wasn’t in good shape and the hoops were old.

“We had a number of groups that volunteered to help. The Latter Day Saints Church was great with volunteering to help paint the structures and our parks and maintenance crew put a big priority on the park to really make it nice.”

Pacific Ace contributed much of the construction aspect and before long the courts were revamped. The three-month spring project wrapped up on June 15.

“It was a big priority of Jonah’s to continue improving the park,” Lyngstad said. “Though it was a joint effort, he was the one who really pushed the idea. “

With another basketball court in town, Astoria Parks and Recreation are expecting an even bigger turnout for their 3-on-3 basketball tournament on August 16 and 17. Though much of the action will be at Fred Lindstrom, Lyngstad said the court at Tapiola will be available for use as well.

Other projects in the works for Astoria Parks and Recreation include the addition of new playground equipment at Fred Lindstrom and continuing to upgrade the baseball and softball fields at Tapiola Park.

Paul Matli