UNR making plans to preserve historical homes near campus

The University of Nevada, Reno is working on plans to preserve a dozen historic homes on the edge of its campus by letting them be sold and moved off land slated for future development.

The Nevada System of Higher Education, which manages the state’s colleges, gave the university permission to transfer ownership of the homes last week, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Tuesday.

The 12 homes, built between 1895 and 1971, are on the southern edge of the campus, north of U.S. Interstate 80 and a few blocks north of the downtown casino district.

The university targeted the area for future campus expansion under plans unveiled two years ago, prompting groups to look for ways some of the homes could be preserved. Reno’s Historical Resources Commission took part in the effort, and one of the homes is listed on city and state registers of historic places.

A plan for how the homes will be sold or transferred is expected to be out in January, said Heidi Gansert, the university’s executive director of external relations.

The university has been in contact with interested groups, including organizations that work with homeless people, seniors and foster children, Gansert said.

“Our goal is for the homes to go to the greater good,” Gansert said.

Gansert said their goal also is for the homes to stay together somewhere, but she noted it would be a challenge.

University documents indicate the buyers would be responsible for the costs associated with relocating the houses.