new student housing project set for navajo technical university

Plans are in the works for the construction of a modern three-story student housing complex on the main Crownpoint campus of Navajo Technical University in northwestern New Mexico.

Money for the project is coming from several sources, including most prominently the Sihasin Fund, which is giving the school $14.3 million to put up the structure.

The Sihasin Fund money was approved unanimously as part of the Crownpoint Student Housing Expenditure Plan by members of the Navajo Nation Council.

Other funding includes the Navajo Housing Authority, which is providing some $9.3 million, and the university itself, with $4 million.

The new building will measure 95,338 square feet and will include 144 rooms. Of that total, 126 rooms will be designed for double occupancy, with the remaining 18 dedicated to single room space.
Work on the new building is expected to launch this fall, with a 2020 completion date.

Navajo Technical University already has two dormitories and just over 30 individual housing units, all of which are fully occupied.

The school, with an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, was established in 1979 as the Navajo Skill Center and officially named the Navajo Technical University three years ago.

Last fall, the school announced that it was opening a new 38-acre campus in Chinle, Arizona, 130 miles to the west of the Crownpoint campus, building a 6,000 square foot general education building that is expected to be completed this summer.

By Garry Boulard

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