Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal / AP
Argenta Hall on the UNR campus shows damage after a utilities explosion on Friday, July 5, 2019, in Reno.
Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019 | 12:47 p.m.
RENO — UNR has sealed a deal with a downtown hotel-casino to house 1,300 students for the coming school year after a natural gas explosion forced the closure of two main residence halls.
UNR President Marc Johnson announced Thursday the school has signed a one-year, $21.7 million lease agreement with Eldorado Resorts, owner of the Circus Circus a half-mile south of campus.
Students will live in single and double rooms in a non-gambling hotel tower that is separate from the adjoining casino and being renamed as "Wolf Pack Tower."
Johnson says UNR's insurance claim will help finance the lease. Rates will be the same as at on-campus dorms, about $5,600 a year for double rooms.
He says students will have separate non-casino entrances with a key-card entry system, around-the-clock security and shuttle buses to campus.
