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Books not bets: Nevada casino hotel to serve as college dorm

University of Nevada, Reno officials knew it was a bit of a gamble when they agreed to lease a downtown casino hotel tower for a year and turn it into a college dormitory.

They expected some criticism but had less than six weeks to find rooms for 1,300 students after a July 5 gas explosion shut down their two biggest residence halls, one for at least two years.

The challenge was compounded by their determination to house as many as possible in the same building — a tall order in an extremely tight housing market where an influx of new jobs at Tesla, Microsoft, Apple and elsewhere has sent rental rates skyrocketing.

This July 11, 2019 photo shows damage in the first-floor cafeteria at a University of Nevada, Reno dormitory where a July 5 natural gas explosion blew out walls and windows, in Reno, Nev. Argenta Hall and a neighboring dorm will remain closed all school year. With less than six weeks to find rooms for about 1,300 students after a July 5 gas explosion shut down their two biggest residence halls, the university took a lease to turn a Reno casino hotel tower into a college dormitory for a year. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

Yet with fall classes beginning Monday, school officials say there's been less pushback than anticipated to the unorthodox arrangement with Eldorado Resorts' Circus Circus, at one end of Reno's main casino drag about a half-mile (800 meters) from campus.

For nearly every student who has requested reassignment out of the Circus Circus, there's been another who has asked to move into the newly renovated hotel, where the former wedding chapel is being converted into a study center with USB ports.

Instead of a smoky floor of poker tables and slot machines, students enter the nonsmoking, nongambling tower through a quiet marbled foyer with potted plants and a security guard. Upstairs they find queen- and king-size beds, 40-inch (100-centimeter) plasma TVs, mini-fridges and private bathrooms.

This photo taken Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019 shows the Circus Circus casino hotel tower in downtown Reno, Nev., where about 1,300 University of Nevada, Reno students are living this year after a gas explosion in July shut down two major dorms. The non-gambling, non-smoking building leased to the university for $21.7 million has been converted into Wolf Pack Hall exclusively for students through the 2019-2020 school year. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

"I don't want to mislead you. There were a handful that were just, 'No way,'" said Shannon Ellis, vice president for student services.

But as of Friday, only 19 students remained on the list requesting reassignment from what's now called "Wolf Pack Tower." Thirty of the 89 students who originally wanted out have changed their minds. About 40 have requested transfers in, and the list is growing.

The 28-floor hotel is exclusively for UNR students and accessible only with key cards through a single entrance with 24-hour security. An indoor pedestrian bridge connecting the tower to the casino across the street has been closed.

In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019, a student moves in to a Circus Circus casino-hotel tower that has been renamed Wolf Pack Tower in downtown Reno, Nev. It will house about 1,300 University of Nevada, Reno students for the coming school year after a July gas explosion shut down the two largest dorms on the main campus a half-mile away. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

Kailyn JBeily, a resident assistant at Wolf Pack Tower, planned to serve as an alternate RA at an on-campus dorm but jumped at the chance for fancier digs, with queen-sized beds in doubles and California kings in singles.

Twin beds are standard issue in the school's other dorms, where a total of about 2,100 students will live this year. The oldest dorm dates to 1896. Most have community bathrooms on each floor instead of private baths, and students must provide their own TVs and mini-refrigerators.

"Everybody's really excited," JBeily said as students began arriving at Wolf Pack Tower this week. People on her floor are especially stoked about the beds and "having your own bathroom."

In this Monday, Aug. 19, 2019 photo, a University of Nevada, Reno student walks toward a security guard as renovation work continues in the lobby of the Circus Circus hotel-casino tower in downtown Reno, Nev., that will house roughly 1,300 UNR students after a July gas explosion shut down two major dorms. The non-gambling, non-smoking building that a subsidiary of Circus Circus leased to the university for $21.7 million has been converted into a residence hall exclusively for students through the 2019-2020 school year. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

The sophomore from Sacramento, California, lived last year in Argenta Hall, the dorm most severely damaged in the July blast. She was gone when the explosion occurred in the mostly empty building. Eight people suffered minor injuries. Argenta Hall is expected to remain closed for two years, while neighboring Nye Hall could reopen as soon as next summer.

School officials took to social media to help make their case as they negotiated the $21.7 million deal to take over the former 907-room Sky Tower, which already had been renovated last year into a smoke-free, gambling-free building separate from Circus Circus' other tower a block away.

They traveled to Las Vegas for a pair of parent-teacher town hall meetings to explain that buses will shuttle students to and from campus every 15 minutes, and the academic support and programming will be the same or better as at the dorms.

A security guard sits at a check point next to the elevators while University of Nevada resident assistants sit in the background on Aug. 19, 2019 during a training session at the Circus Circus casino hotel tower that's been converted into a residence hall. Renamed Wolf Pack Tower, it will house about 1,300 students this school year after a gas explosion in July shut down two major dorms on the main campus a half-mile away. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

"There is still some anxiety, probably more from parents," Romando Nash, UNR's associate vice president for student life services, acknowledged after one town hall. But he said that was based more on downtown safety in general and separation from the main campus.

Northeastern University in Boston, Georgia State in Atlanta and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are among other schools that housed students in private hotels in recent years. But none was affiliated with a casino.

A handful of people voiced disapproval during a Las Vegas town hall, including an incoming freshman's mother who said she didn't even want her son to have a Circus Circus parking pass, let alone live there.

This photo taken Aug. 19, 2019 shows the Circus Circus casino's famous clown in downtown Reno, Nev., a block from the casino-hotel tower where about 1,300 University of Nevada students will live this school year. A gas explosion in July shut down indefinitely the school's two largest residence halls on campus a half-mile away. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

University President Marc Johnson said the school "pretty much required that we control the entire building" so it could replicate the freshman dorm experience. He said the school was fortunate that the casino-hotel closest to campus recently joined the growing number converting at least part of their property to no smoking or gambling "to stay in this market for conventions and the like."

"It is not a casino building. It is not a casino tower. It happens to be a hotel facility owned by a casino-hotel company," Johnson said.

Ellis, the student services vice president, said the only real difference from other dorms is the extra security, including an on-site campus police substation.

This photo taken Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019 in downtown Reno, Nev., shows University of Nevada, Reno students walking past a Circus Circus casino-hotel tower that has been renamed Wolf Pack Tower. It will house about 1,300 UNR students for the coming school year after a July gas explosion shut down the two largest dorms on the main campus a half-mile away. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

A convenience store and coffee shop are down the hall from the former wedding chapel, where tutors will provide 40 hours of free academic support a week like they do at other dorms. Lounges on each end of each floor have flat-screen TVs and microwaves. A new laundry room is under construction with 65 washers and dryers.

Parents and students who arrived this week "were greeted like at every other residence hall," Ellis said.

"There was the same synergy, the excitement, the crying — all the things that go on during moving day. Parents were saying, 'I'm a convert,'" she said.

This photo taken Aug. 19, 2019 shows the famous clown at the Circus Circus casinos famous clown in front one of its downtown Reno, Nev., casino hotel where about 1,300 University of Nevada students are living this year after a gas explosion in July shut down two major dorms. The non-gambling, non-smoking building leased to the university for $21.7 million has been converted into Wolf Pack Hall exclusively for students through the 2019-2020 school year. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

Steve Selbo of San Jose, California, was a bit apprehensive until he helped move in his daughter, an incoming junior transfer student.

"Now that we're here, you can tell it's separate from the casino, and everyone living in this building is a student," he said.

Two incoming freshmen from Las Vegas said they have some concerns about getting to campus for meals, but the rooms are a big upgrade from the dorms. They've seen no indication the so-called "circus life" will be rowdier than the dorms. "It's been the opposite," Keean Goffe said.

This photo taken Monday, Aug. 19, 2019 shows one of the rooms in a non-gambling, no-smoking hotel tower at the Circus Circus hotel-casino in downtown Reno, Nev., where about 1,300 University of Nevada Reno students will live for the coming school year after a July gas explosion shut down the two largest dorms on the main campus a half-mile away. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

Neither Keean Goffe nor Alonso Gibson expect the neighboring casinos will be a distraction.

"I'm not here to party," Gibson said. "I'm here to get an education."

Besides, Goffe added, "I don't think anyone my age is interested in slots."

In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, Kailyn JBeily, a resident assistant at the University of Nevada, Reno, poses in the hallway outside her room in a Circus Circus casino hotel tower in downtown Reno, Nev., that has been converted into a dormitory a half-mile from the main campus. Now called Wolf Pack Tower, it will house about 1,300 UNR students for the coming school year after a July gas explosion shut down the two largest dorms. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)

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In this Monday, Aug. 19, 2019 photo, a University of Nevada, Reno, employee oversees the desk in the lobby of a Circus Circus casino hotel tower in downtown Reno, Nev., that has been converted into a dormitory a half-mile from the main campus. Now called Wolf Pack Tower, it will house about 1,300 UNR students for the coming school year after a July gas explosion shut down the two largest dorms. (AP PhotoScott Sonner)