Inter-America: Church headquarters to expand its building facility
Artist rendering of the southwest view where the new expansion will be added to Inter-American Division’s Headquarters Office in Miami, Florida. The new expansion will include storage section in the first floor and six executive offices, five working stations and a meeting room on the second floor. Image courtesy of 3L Builders/IAD
February 21, 2014 – Miami, Florida…Libna Stevens/IAD Staff
The Inter-American Division (IAD) of Seventh-day Adventists, located at 8100 S.W. and 117th Avenue in Miami, Florida, will soon expand its office building to better accommodate growing international operations.
The approval to expand came after the organization obtained approval from a public hearing with the county government last month.
The expansion will house more staff to oversee institutions and a growing church membership across Mexico, Central America, The Caribbean, French Antilles, Colombia and Venezuela, according to Pastor Israel Leito, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America.
“When we first moved to Kendall in 2000, the IAD was overseeing 12 church regions across the Inter-American Division territory,” says Pastor Leito. “Today these have increased to 22, including 130 sub regions, and nearly four million members in nearly 20,000 congregations.”
This growth in the territory prompted administrators to expand the office building, says Pastor Leito. “We need more office space and more storage.”
The headquarter office operates a development and disaster relief organization called Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and oversees educational work in 550 elementary schools, 346 secondary schools and 13 universities in its territory. In addition, the IAD operates a medical school, a theological seminary, and an online university. The facility also serves as a purchasing and shipping agent for its sub organizations.
The two-floor expansion will be connected to the southwest corner of the existing structure and will become part of the entire unit, explains Luis Castañeda, owner and president of 3L Builders Corp., the Florida State General Contractor in charge of the project.
The 3,120-square-foot addition will function as a storage area on the first floor of 1,560 square feet and six executive offices, five working stations and a meeting room on the second floor. Construction is due to be completed by November of this year.
Administrators believe that the new addition will contribute to the fulfillment of civic duties, and will continue to function as a safe and comfortable elections precinct.
For more on the Inter-American Division, visit interamerica.org