KAYENTA, AZ - The Kayenta Business Site Leasing Committee met for the third time on Thursday at 2:00 pm with NATIVE, Inc., to listen in on a presentation on a new planned campus for vocational education. Representatives Frankie Gilmore and Superintendent Karen C. Lesher presented drawings of the design and architecture, and in some parts of their presentation, their excitement about a long overdue project prompted the meeting to last beyond an hour. The NATIVE Campus has long been in the planning stages since 1999, they said.
Along with their design and architecture presentation, the NATIVE representatives approached the newly formed Kayenta Business Site Leasing Committee with a complete Business Site Lease application that is good “for a term of twenty-five (25) years, with two additional options to renew the Agreement for 25 years.”
The main reason for building a NATIVE campus in Kayenta is to provide a centralized place for adult education, which according to the studies presented, is a huge need on the Navajo reservation. Superintendent Karen Lesher said, “A centralized campus in Kayenta will allow us to get more funding.” The NATIVE program finally became recognized as a school district in 2003.
Frankie J. Gilmore, who has been a steadfast advocate for a NATIVE campus for over 10-years, was the person who did the preliminary concept drawings and design by pencil. After several years, as it became a major project, Beringer Ciaccio DennellMadbrey, or BCDM became the architects. BCDM is a full-service architecture business with offices in Phoenix, AZ, Des Moines, IA, and its main offices in Omaha, NE.
“The buildings were designed to reflect the Navajo culture,” said Frankie Gilmore. The project construction will come in four phases. Each phase will erect a major part of a four part building and will include ten-housing units. The four major buildings will each house several departments, lecture rooms, and offices. “The buildings will be set up with an east entrance with a walk way and thoroughfare going in the four cardinal directions. Each building in each direction will be fastened by a rainbow to make one building or central campus. The main entrance will reflect the entrance of a hogan,” he explained.
The first phase of the project will include the southeast part of the building that will include: 1) Administration; 2) Conference Center; 3) Culinary Arts; 4) Power Structural and Technology Systems; 5) Electrical and Power Transmission Techology; 5) Hospitality; and 6) TV/Video Production. The hospitality, culinary arts, and conference center portion of the project is also envisioned as bringing in revenue through what is called a student based enterprise, which is envisioned as teaching students about the real world of money.
The second phase of the project, or building two will include: 1) Bio Science; 2) Hospitality; 3) Information Technology Networking; 4) Nursing; 5) Computer Technology and Library; and 6) Offices.
The third phase will include: 1) Cosmetology; 2) Law, Public Safety, and Security; 3) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC); 4) Mental and Health Services; 5) Auditorium; and 6) 2 Offices.
The fourth phase will include: 1) Automotive Technology; 2) Engineering Sciences; 3) Education and Training; 4) Heavy Equipment Operations; 5) Heavy Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies; and 6) Medium Conference Rooms.
Other features of the campus will include Staff Housing, a Geodome, a Hogan, 6 Hogan B & B Rentals, Wind Energy Turbines, Solar Energy Panels, land labs, and many other features.
Later, over the phone, Superintendent Karen Lesher said that they are awaiting clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency and once all the clearances are made, they are hoping to break ground for Phase I of construction in mid-March 2010.