PIU Challenges for 2010 #5 - Facilities

When our current PIU property was acquired in 1997 the plan was to build for a total of 35 students. The 3.7 acre property had been previously used by a construction company to house H2 workers and consisted of one large concrete building and three smaller concrete building shells with metal roofs. Soon after we bought the property typhoon Paka devastated the larger building. With an SBA loan and significant investment by Liebenzell Mission the large building was turned into a library, men's dorm and faculty apartment. The three smaller buildings became the administration building, women's dorm and academic building. With accreditation in 1999 providing the students the ability to get federal tuition assistance, the campus filled up quickly and additions were needed. In the summer of 2000 the outdoor basketball court was poured and small rooms were added connecting the three smaller buildings providing another classroom and faculty offices, and turning the 3 buildings into the one E shaped building that you see in the Google earth picture. This google earth picture was taken in 2006 and is still the one they have up today.

After this picture was taken in 2006 PIU-Guam enrollment steadily increased from about 60 to over 130. This necessitated some scrambling to make a campus designed for 35 accommodate almost 70 on campus and over 60 commuter students. Two houses in the neighborhood were rented and are outlined in green in the updated picture. Two temporary buildings made from shipping containers, the Cannex houses 12 male students, and the Dinex which was originally slated to be a cafeteria was adapted to become the computer lab. Finally this last summer a pavilion was added to provide the students with a gathering place. (sorry my paste in of pictures of these new structures is not too professional)

It is clearly time to expand the campus. We believe that with an expanded land area and upgraded facilities we could be providing excellent Christian higher education to 300-400 students by the 2015-6 school year. The blue outlined area in the picture above is a 3.6 acre property adjoining our current site and is available for us to purchase. The drawing to the left here is a rough outline of what we would like to do with our current and the adjoining properties. The acquired property facing Route 15 would become the front of the campus with with the administration building, library complex, academic building and faculty housing unit all facing the entrance. The current property would become the student living area with a student center and cafeteria built in the current open area. We believe that such a facility would not only meet the educational needs of our students, but would also be a tremendous benefit to the local community.

With our current facilities strained to the breaking point and plans to expand our programs and diversify our student body, we need to expand our facilities soon. We know that God provides the means for what He calls us to do, so we are trusting him for them or to provide another direction to proceed.

Below are some recent pictures of our facilities....

Welcome to PIU. This sidewalk runs in front of the academic, women's dorm and administration building. 

 

This is the building that looks like an "E" from above. 

 

The pavilion serves as a gathering place for the students, a place to eat a meal or a shelter from the rain.

 

On the left you can see the C-Annex Men's dorm which houses up to 12 students.  The building on the right contains the library, main men's dorm and a faculty apartment. 

 

Here is a closer view of the Cannex. We will need to do some major repairs on this building this summer and in the long term would like to replace it with another concrete men's dorm. 

 

The computer lab. The wooden deck also provides bleachers for watching basketball or volleyball games. 

 

Another shot of the main classroom and admin buildings. One thing that we rarely lack on Guam is greenery and blue skies!