Crownpoint gas station, hotel construction set to start

WINDOW ROCK

Residents in the Eastern Navajo Agency have been complaining for years about the lack of economic development in their area.

But that is changing.

Thanks to funds from the $150 million that the Navajo Nation Council agreed to take from interest earned by the Permanent Trust Fund, two major projects will begin this year in Crownpoint.

The Council is providing about $6.9 million for the projects – $3.75 million for a hotel and conference center and $3.1 million for a convenience store, gas station and laundromat.

Both projects have been on the drawing boards for years and both companies are hoping to begin construction later this year.

Delegate Edmund Yazzie (Pinedale/Church Rock/Iyanbito/Mariano Lake/Thoreau/ Smith Lake) has argued for years that his agency has not been rated fairly when it comes to the distribution of economic development funds.

He said Wednesday he still feels that the Arizona side gets a bigger share than New Mexico.

“There needs to be fairer system,” he said.

Alvin Thompson, owner of Thompson Acquisitions, LLC, said his Navajo-owned company has been working on the convenience store project for four years.

The project, which will be located next to the hospital, is expected to start construction in July or August and be completed by late 2019.

His plans originally called for just a gas station and convenience store, Thompson said, but area residents said the community desperately needed a laundromat so he agreed.

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