The VIEW Fact Sheet
Groundbreaking for construction of The VIEW Hotel was in December 2007. A Blessing Ceremony performed by a Navajo Medicine Man on May 12, 2008 was attended by dignitaries including Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Vice President Ben Shelly, Ray Russell - Navajo Parks & Recreation Department Manager, George Arthur - Chairman Natural Resources Committee, Council Delegate Herman Daniels, Sr., local Oljato Chapter President James Adakaii and other dignitaries.
The hotel opened in December 2008.
The hotel will have 90 guestrooms in the initial phase. Ninety guestrooms (including 3 suites) have private balconies facing the world famous view of the Mittens.
The location of the hotel is like no other in the world – you feel like you can reach out and press your hand to the Mittens.
2008 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park – the first tribal park in the Navajo Nation.
The VIEW Hotel is the first hotel park ever built on Navajo Tribal Park land.
The VIEW Hotel is on Navajo Nation land in the state of Arizona. Over three quarters of the Monument Valley Tribal Park is situated within the state of Arizona.
ARTSCO is the Lessee contracted with the Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation Department to build and operate The VIEW Hotel and provide visitor services.
ARTSCO is a family venture led by Armanda Ortega, President of ARTSCO. This Navajo owned enterprise is 100% family owned and the hotel is being built with private funds. Armanda is of the Kiy`anníí (Towering House) Clan.
The business model for the relationship between ARTSCO and the Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation Department is the same as the U.S. Departments of Interior and the U.S. Forest use for the concessioners who provide lodging and visitor services in U.S. National Parks and National Forests.
The Lessee will pay a percentage of gross revenue on all sales to Navajo Parks & Recreation in addition to sales tax paid to the Navajo Nation.
ARTSCO will soon establish a scholarship fund to benefit education for youth in the local area.
The site for development of the hotel was carefully selected. The site of The VIEW Hotel is the previous site of a campground adjoining the Tribal Park Visitors Center which has provided visitor services for over 40 years.
Contractors building The View Hotel over 90% Native American |
|---|
| R.E. Nelson - Earthwork | 100% Navajo |
Howard Electric |
80% Native American |
| Redd Mechanical/Plumbing | 100% Navajo |
| CSI - Forms/Iron Workers | 90% Navajo |
| Bigelow - Carpenters | 90% Navajo |
| G&G - Masons | 100% Navajo |
The VIEW Hotel ◦ Restaurant & the Monument Valley Trading Post will provide approximately 100 full and part time jobs making it one of the largest employers in the area.
The Navajo Nation, through the Navajo Parks & Recreation Department, is creating economic development and employment opportunity in a very economically depressed area. Development of new businesses on Tribal land goes beyond economic benefits. Because opportunity for employment is limited across the Navajo Nation, many people leave their families and move to border towns or further away to secure employment. When jobs are available locally families are more able to stay intact which keeps people connected to their community and their culture.
The Navajo Reservation was established in 1868, and expanded through a series of executive orders, public land orders, and congressional statutes, to become the largest Indian reservation in the United States. Larger than the State of West Virginia, the Navajo Nation covers an area of approximately 27,000 square miles including portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The Navajo Nation is divided into 110 chapters, which are areas of local government. The Chapters that encompass the Monument Valley Tribal Park have one of the highest rates of unemployment in the Navajo Nation. Over 56 percent of Navajos live below the poverty level, the highest poverty rate in the U.S., even among American Indians.
President Joe Shirley’s office and his full administration are very committed to this precedent setting project and the future benefits it will bring to the Navajo people.
Contact information:
Patrick Sandoval
Chief of Staff
Office of the President & Vice President – Navajo Nation
psandoval@opvp.org
(928) 871-7002
Ray Russell
Director Navajo Parks & Recreation
navajoparks@yahoo.com
928-871-6647
Information online at:
www.monumentvalleyview.com
Click here to view as a PDF
1050 E. Southern Ave. Suite C-3
Tempe, AZ 85282