later services of R. A. Torrey. In the formative period of the school, Torrey's advice was sought fre quently. He was considered by the founders to be the nation's great est leader in the field of Christian education, and a man whose ad vice was invaluable in the estab lishment of such a school. Torrey had left the Moody Church in Chicago to do evangelistic work and was scheduled to join the Bible Institute of Los Angeles as dean in 1912. One of the stipula tions for his coming was that there was to be erected an auditorium with a seating capacity of at least 3,000.
minds of Stewart and others inter ested in the development of the school that made them hesitate to carry out the plans to build on the 8th and Los Angeles site. Immedi ately they began to cast about for a better location. In a letter written by Horton to Stewart on September 26,1911 the first mention of the Hope Street location was made. He wrote, “We have found a lot 168 x 180 on the east side of Hope Street which can be bought for $180,000. It contains 32,000 square feet — 7,000 more than the other lots. There is quite a diversity of opin ion as to the location, but for many reasons I still am led to favor the 8th Street site." However, Stewart believed that they were providentially led to the Hope Street location which he felt “comes nearer to being an ideal location than the one on 8th Street and will give more commodious accommodations." Joseph Irvine, who was inter ested in the Institute from its very beginning and who was in the real estate business af the time, relates how the purchase for the Hope Street property was made. He was given certified checks from Stewart and authority to negotiate for the purchase of the property. The property was in four separate par cels owned by four different indi viduals. According to Irvine the price did not vary more than $1,000 per parcel, and no owner was aware that the others were selling until they all met at the escrow office. The change of location caused some delay in the building pro gram of the Institute. And the delay nearly cost the school the
DR. R. A. TORREY With the change of location, the new auditorium would be delayed for at least two years. Torrey had been invited to come back to Moody and the BIOLA board feared the building delay might induce him to do so. Acting swift ly, Stewart proposed two plans to keep Torrey with the new West Coast school: 1) that the Institute arrange evangelistic meetings for
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