UNR OKS housing deal for $21 million

Explosion forces use of hotel-casino tower

The University of Nevada, Reno, has signed an agreement for more than $21 million with Eldorado Resorts to house students displaced by an explosion that badly damaged two on-campus dormitories.

Students will be housed at the Sky Tower of Circus Circus Reno, the university announced Thursday.

The $21.675 million lease agreement for the academic year will provide 1,300 beds to UNR students after the July 5 explosion in a boiler rendered two residence halls uninhabitable. The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents in July authorized the university to enter into any agreements needed to provide housing for students affected by the explosion.

The cost for the tower will form part of the university’s insurance claim.

The nongaming tower is approximately half a mile from campus and will be temporarily renamed Wolf Pack Tower. It will have key card-controlled entrances and exits for students. The building will function like other residence halls, with resident advisers stationed at each floor. University police will establish a substation in the building.

The cost for students living at Wolf Pack Tower will be $5,800 for the academic year.

“We are happy to see our plan for a seamless integration of Wolf Pack Tower into the university’s housing experience realized,” UNR President Marc Johnson said in a statement. “The university community is fortunate that our longtime community partner Eldorado Resorts understands what the needs of our program are and has agreed to work with us on transitioning their property into a residence space where our students will live, study and thrive.”

To replace a dining hall that was damaged in the explosion, a temporary tent structure will open the week of Aug. 12 in the plaza east of Great Basin Hall to feed up to

400 students at a time. A semipermanent dining area is set to open later in the fall on the lawn between Thompson Hall and the Jot Travis Building.

Student housing assignments are expected out this week, university officials said Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Las Vegas.

Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @ aleksappleton on Twitter.

Scott Sonner The Associated Press Structural engineers with experience responding to natural disasters are helping experts at the University of Nevada, Reno with efforts to rebuild its damaged dorms.