Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building


The Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, colloquially known as BGPOP, is one of the major facilities built in the Manila campus of the University of Santo Tomas. It serves as the meeting place of all members of the university's alumni in the Philippines and abroad.
The building houses both the University of [Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters|UST Faculty of Arts and Letters] and UST College of Tourism and Hospitality Management. Previously, it served as the classrooms for the UST Senior High School before they relocated to the Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Building in 2019.
In addition, the center houses the individual alumni chapters of each faculty and college. The structure honors the name of Blessed Buenaventura García de Paredes, who was a law professor of the University and a Master of the Order of Preachers martyred in 1936 during the religious persecution in Spain.
The site is the original location of UST's gymnasium, which was the largest in the Philippines when it was built. Given its historic importance to UST, the gym's front and rear façade were kept. The adjacent Olympic-sized swimming pool was retained, yet refurbished.

History

In June 2010, UST Rector Rolando dela Rosa visited the Thomasian alumni based in the United States. He addressed the members of the alumni in the U.S., particularly the Thomasian medical practitioners to invite them to come home and join the festivities for UST's quadricentennial anniversary. This happened during the 18th Annual Grand Reunion and Medical Convention of the UST Medical Alumni Association in America or USTMAAA. During the event, the UST Rector acknowledged the association's pledge of US$1 million for the construction of the Thomasian Alumni Center.

Construction

The demolition of the original UST gymnasium started on April 6, 2011, after which construction began. The building was completed in 2014, and opened in August of the same year.

Facilities

The alumni center has twelve floors and a mezzanine. The ground floor features a grand lobby that serves as the center's main converging point. The center's grand ballroom is on the second floor. The third floor is the location of the Office for Alumni Affairs and the offices of each faculty/college-based alumni association. The center has hostel facilities for accommodation services for traveling and returning alumni.