Many people in Reno will never forget July 5, 2019 when an explosion trembled the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). The blast caused major damage to Argenta Hall.
"A boiler exploded in Argenta hall, so Argenta took the brunt of the impact," explained Dean Kennedy, the Executive Director of Residential Housing and Food Services at UNR.
Next door Nye Hall was also damaged, but not as severe. It was able to reopen in August 2020, a little more than a year after the incident. The building was also updated with new paint and carpets and rooms were also remodeled. The residence hall is expected to house another 500 students during the fall semester.
800 students that would have occupied Argenta have to live in the university's other housing options or rent another space in town. Two years after the blast, the dorm remains out of service due to a delay in construction. Argenta's revitalization was supposed to take two years to complete, making fall of 2021 the initial target date for completion. Officials say it is now scheduled to reopen and welcome students back before the summer ends in 2022.
"We had an estimate for what we thought would take the time to get in the building make it safe, design, architecture, and then do the construction again to bring the building back up to speed. But as we got into Argenta hall, contractors and safety professionals, they realized the damage was more extensive than they thought." said Kennedy. "That caused additional time for teams to get in the building to make sure it was safe for contractors, design architects to get in the building to create plans."
On top of the initial explosion, about eight months after the blast more of the unexpected happened, expanding the timeline even further.
Kennedy said, "COVID, as you can imagine hasn't helped anything. Product delays, just raw materials."
Despite the circumstances, Kennedy said they'll use the time as an opportunity to update the building's design and add amenities for students to enjoy. The dining commons has been completely redesigned to add more space and different types of seating. The convenience store is expected to expand, providing students with more options. Instead of having laundry facilities on every floor, the dorm is also designed to have gaming rooms and community spaces on each level.
"We want the students on every floor to have good community relationships with each other." Kennedy added.
He also said Argenta's designers and construction team are making sure the building's up to code. They also have emergency systems in place for student safety. Kennedy added the 2019 explosion was an isolated incident and all other buildings are safe and go through routine inspections.
Argenta's continued construction is not anticipated to impact student housing. Kennedy said UNR has been housing 3,000 students for the past couple of years and that number remains the same. Kennedy was confident in saying no student will be left unhoused due to the Argenta incident.
The total cost and commitments to date for Argenta and Nye is $62.1 million, which includes design, inspections, furniture, contingency and construction. About $45 million is allocated for the construction cost for Argenta, including $6.9 million for upgrades (over and above repairs) to the dining commons. That will be paid for by Chartwells.
2 News asked if the reconstruction will impact the cost of housing at Argenta and Kennedy said it will not.
