Village set to build motel, conference center to boost tourism, bring jobs to reservation

 

A small Hopi village plans to build a 100-room motel and conference center near Tuba City as part of a massive $100 million economic-development project.


The "Gateway to Hopi Land" will break ground in July on 72 acres at the intersection of Arizona 264 and U.S. 160. It's slated to include an office complex with a bank, a business center and possibly apartments. All of the buildings will have a Pueblo motif, according to Dan Honahni, who is overseeing the project as chief executive of Moenkopi Developers Corp. Inc.

The project, however, will not include a casino, as the Hopi tribe twice rejected referendums since the early 1990s that would have allowed gaming on tribal land, Honahni said.

"Our mission is to create jobs and opportunities for the Hopi people to become entrepreneurs and bring revenue to the village government so they can use it for health, education and welfare of the residents," said Honahni, who is working for the Upper Village of Moenkopi. The village has about 1,100 residents.

Honahni hopes the project will attract tourists visiting northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon.

The project follows the construction of a nearby $6.3 million Tuuvi Travel Center that includes 16 gas pumps, a carwash, convenience store, smoke shop and two fast-food restaurants. The travel center's grand opening is May 2. The center gets its moniker from the original name of the area before it was called Tuba City.

"Momentum creates momentum," said Levi Esquerra, program director for the Center for American Indian Economic Development at Northern Arizona University. "When you have a project going, another one develops. It's a lot easier to get support when one vision becomes a reality."

Esquerra said the village's economic-development plans are succeeding because it previously installed a water-and-sewer system that would accommodate growth.

"It's a great development not only for the tribe, but it's a great model for other tribes in establishing an economic-development corporation to go out and make a project happen," Esquerra said.

Honahni doesn't have a target date for completion of the gateway project.

But he hopes to have the motel and conference center done by June 2009.

In time, he hopes the project will bring Hopis back to the reservation.

Costs could hit $110 million, and he may seek investors, Honahni said.

So far, Honahni said he has raised $2.2 million through a federal grant, and the project has borrowed several million from Wachovia Bank.