Two University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) freshman dorms are still down from the explosions that happened more than two weeks ago. The university announced last week that it's now taking steps to solve the housing problem for the 1,300 students who are supposed to be living in those dorms. Freshman orientation for UNR is going on right now, but many of those students still don't know where they are going to be living when they arrive in the fall.

The university is in negotiations right now to rent out the entire west tower of Circus Circus. But renting out the building isn't the only plan the university has for the location that's being called Wolf Pack Tower.

Almost all of the students that are supposed to move into Argenta Hall and Nye Hall in the 2019 fall semester are freshman. With the explosions that have closed those dorms, those living plans are no longer a possibility. But UNR has a plan to house them in a tower of Circus Circus. There are 900 rooms in that tower that are separate from the casino.

“We are taking some of those rooms and creating laundry rooms on many floors. We are also creating lounge space on each floor. and creating study lounges,” said Vice President of UNR Student Services Shannon Ellis.

There will be some room sharing going on between students. There will also be 50 staff members on site, including added security. “Campus police is going to put a campus police substation in the building. We will also double up our usual security. We will two desk attendants at the entrances. We also have walked through security we will double those up as well," said Ellis.

The school is also talking about the possibility of setting up a student convenience store. “This will be run by our food service operator. They ran one in Argenta. It's where students went for late night things like pizza and burgers, so we will be replicating that,” said Ellis.

Freshman reaction is mixed. “It could be a nice place for freshman if they avoid all the chaos and the casinos,” said incoming UNR freshman Carl Braun. “I’m opposed to it because it’s not as close to campus as I want to be,” said incoming UNR freshman Megan Ebbert. 

One thing the freshman will like is the cost. “Students will be charged the same amount. We aren't going to charge them more money,” said Shannon Ellis.

If the deal goes through, the plan is to have shuttles transport students back and forth from campus to Wolf Pack Tower. Right now the two sides are still working out the full rental agreement.