East Point’s loss is West Point’s gain.
Officials at Atlanta Christian College announced last week the college will relocate from East Point to West Point and change its name to Point University.
“We’ve been looking at sites for four years and decided this was the best fit,” said Point University President Dean Collins.
Collins said the college looked at sites from Newnan to Peachtree City, but eventually settled on the west Georgia town near the Kia plant. The university has 1,100 students and just over 300 resident students who will move when the college shifts to West Point in 2012. The university offers studies in both traditional and adult programs and grants degrees in biblical studies, biology, education and other programs.
Collins said one of the biggest selling points for West Point was the availability of existing buildings. The college will move into a 77,000-square-foot building in downtown West Point that was previously the headquarters for textile giant West Point Pepperell.
“We walked in and immediately knew this could be an academic building,” Collins said.
In addition to the move, the university will take steps for establishing an NAIA college football team. Collins said nearby Valley, Ala., contains a sports complex that features a 4,500-seat stadium.
On a recent visit to West Point, Collins took along a group of students and he said the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
“They were impressed by the small town and the different restaurants,” he said.
The students that will be most impacted by the move are the seniors of 2012.
“We’re working on a plan to try and accommodate their needs,” Collins added.
Nearly 700 students will continue to take adult learning classes in East Point, as well as at an adult learning program and dual-credit enrollment program for high school students in Peachtree City. Collins said the university is in the process of establishing another off-site location in Savannah.
East Point Mayor Earnestine Pittman knew the move was coming and is well acquainted with the property.
“We’re hoping a developer will do a mixed-use upscale development. We don’t need any more empty houses in East Point,” she said.
Because the East Point campus is surrounded by residences, Collins said the university had to move to expand its offerings.
“We’re looking at different options at our East Point site, but will still provide learning for more than 600 students there,” he said.
Collins is excited about the opportunities in West Point.
“We feel real good about the new site. It allows us to partner with West Point and continue their historic development plan by renovating buildings,” he said.
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