UTEP breaks ground for new $102 million ‘Miner Crossing’ dorm
Gabrielle Lopez
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Students at the University of Texas at El Paso are closer to having a new on-campus housing option. Thursday, with pickaxes in hand, university officials broke ground for a new $102 million dorm called “Miner Crossing.”
The dorm will have 507 beds in rooms made for for one to two students to live in, UTEP said. The five-story dorm will be next to Kidd Field.
Beyond bedrooms, the new dorm will have a dining room that will serve 1,400 meals a day, including pizza, salads and desserts, according to UTEP. Students can expect study spaces, gaming area and a fitness center too.
Miner Crossing will be a “traditional freshman dorm,” according to UTEP President Heather Wilson. She said she expects a lot of student athletes to live in the building.
She said by working with UTEP’s athletics department, she expects all student athletes to have a high-protein meal plan, even if they don’t live in Miner Crossing.
The outside of the building will match UTEP’s Bhutanese architectural style, the campus said.
Construction will take about two years, UTEP said. Students can start living in Miner Crossing in the 2028 fall semester.
UTEP said it has had a waiting list to live on campus for the last four years.
Wilson said a new dorm is necessary since the university is getting more applicants from people living outside of El Paso.