Dustin Schull is Tualatin’s new director for Parks and Recreation. (Jaime Valdez/Valley Times)

Having grown up in the Midwest, Dustin Schull is used to working hard outdoors and improving the areas around him.

In February, Schull was named Tualatin’s parks and recreation director after spending six years as the parks supervisor for the city of Wilsonville.

He replaces Ross Hoover, who left Tualatin last fall to become the parks and nature division manager for Clark County, Washington.

“I grew up on a farm. We grew corn, soybeans, cows, pigs, but then I worked for a large corn seed manufacturer in research agriculture. Before something gets sold to a grower, we would do all of the (research and development), proving the product in the back side,” said Schull, who spent the first 29 years of his life in Minnesota.

Regarding his segue from farming into parks and recreation endeavors, Schull joked that “corn is a grass. It’s just taller.”

Schull said he was well aware of Tualatin and its parks department even before he arrived, but noted that after he met with city department heads and the city manager, it became clear to him Tualatin had “fantastic people” who want to serve the community.

“It really takes a community that’s invested in parks and recreation to take it to the next level,” Schull said, adding that he’s seen support of the $5 fee on residents’ utility bills that pays for parks maintenance and management, as well as the $25 million parks and trails bond passed by voters in 2022.

What has impressed Schull, too, is the number of activities the city offers its residents, crediting staff with working hard to provide those programs.

“They’re incredibly dedicated, incredibly efficient, incredibly thoughtful and collaborative, so we can have things like Blender Dash and Pumpkin Regatta and all these projects — $9 million worth of projects in the first year of the bond that have been initiated,” Schull said.

In addition, he said, the city’s proximity to the Tualatin River has proved a huge draw to the city.

He said Tualatin Riverkeepers mentioned at a recent meeting that of the 11 sites to launch a boat into that river, four of them are in Tualatin. Plans are underway to create a fifth location on property between Tualatin Community Park and Southwest Boones Ferry Road, a project that will tie into the city’s Core Opportunity and Reinvestment Area, a plan to improve the economic vitality of central Tualatin.

“One of the things that’s really exciting for us is there’s not a lot of areas in the region, probably in the state, where you can get off of an active recreation area (the Tualatin River) and access downtown restaurants and retail or housing,” he said.

Schull also is supportive of the recently opened Veterans Plaza, a site he called thoughtfully put together.

“It’s such a meaningful project for so many in the community,” he said.

Other projects the parks and recreation department is working on include the future development of 6.35 acres of land at 23465 S.W. Boones Ferry Road in the Basalt Creek Area, earmarked for parks and natural areas.

Across the street from that park land, the city also has purchased a narrow strip of land it is calling a linear park. Plans are to create a trail there and add other amenities.

“There’s a lot of big projects on the horizon,” Schull concluded.