Construction to start for UNLV Hospitality Hall — VIDEO
Construction crews this week will start building a new $59 million home for UNLV’s hospitality school, a four-story facility that will boast a high-tech kitchen, a student-run cafe and sweeping views of the glimmering Las Vegas skyline.
“This is a huge day for this university and this community,” UNLV President Len Jessup told dignitaries and donors who gathered at the building site Wednesday evening to celebrate the start of the project. “We’re going to take a world-class program up to the next level.”
Hospitality Hall — a 93,000-square-foot facility housing classroom, laboratory and meeting space in the heart of UNLV’s Maryland Parkway campus — is scheduled to open early 2018. The William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration is still raising donations to pay for the $59 million project — the school so far is about $7.5 million away from reaching its $30 million fundraising goal. State lawmakers allocated money for the remaining costs, allowing construction to begin this year.
The project initially had a price of $56 million and an estimated opening date before the fall 2017 semester to coincide with the school’s 50th anniversary that year. Hotel college spokeswoman Angela Ramsey said crews may break ground as soon as Thursday.
A dozen donors have pledged gifts so far, and each will name a section of the new building. Sponsors include Caesars Entertainment Corp., Konami Holdings Corp. and Las Vegas Sands Corp. Caesars will name the building’s main lobby, Konami will name its technology laboratory and Sands will name its second-floor auditorium.
At Wednesday’s ceremony — capped with a champagne toast by hospitality student Melinda Stewart — hotel college Dean Stowe Shoemaker told dignitaries that the project has boosted the school’s mood.
“There’s really a renewed energy at the college and, indeed, across the entire UNLV campus,” Shoemaker said.
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Contact Ana Ley at aley@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find her on Twitter @la__ley
