51 $180,000 dollars. It contains 32,000 square feet, 7,000 more than the other lots." He added, "There is a diversity of opinion as to the location, but for many reasons I still am led to favor the Eighth Street site. This was good news to Mr. Stewart, for in September, 1911, he had visited the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, to get some ideas for the building of the pro- posed new facilities, and felt more ill at ease about the Eighth Street site. In spite of all the fears and trepidations of the members of the Board and those associated with the School they finally decided to purchase the lots on Sixth Street; after which Mr. Stewart wrote to Dr. Torrey, the new Dean, about the Hope Street site, ''It comes nearer to being an ideal location than the one of Eighth Street, and will give us more commodious acco!!lmodations." Mr. Stewart later spoke of the members of the Board as being "divinely led" in the purchase of the Hope Street property. Subsequent events proved that the property was quite adequate for Biola's needs for many years. Mr. Joseph Irvine, a member of the_Board and in the Real Estate Business, re- lates the interesting story about the purchase. Being authorized to ne- gotiate with the owners of the lots, he was given certified checks by the Board with authority to complete the purchase . . Each of the four parcels was owned by different individuals; and yet, the price of each varied little from the price of the others. Neither owner was aware the others were sel- ling until they met at the escrow office to sign the papers to consUITll-natc the sale. Biola's plans to build new facilities and to expand its ministry im- mediately came under criticism. The main source was through Mr. Ralph Smith, Director of the Bible House of Los Angeles. The records indicate that Mr. Smith, feeling that his work was threatened by the extensive building plans for Biola, which he felt would siphon off some of the financial support for his work, became the chief spokesman for those associated w~i th his uork and .--_,,- / .others who shared his views. In a letter to Mr. Stewart he said, "I am
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