Map of a Block

Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCST), which is more locally known with its former name ISAT (Iloilo School of Arts and Trade), is situated along Burgos Street, La Paz, Iloilo City. The street, which divides the campus into two sites, is often flooded even during moderate rainfall. Though the traffic is not usually heavy, large cargo trucks often pass by this street. Nevertheless, WVCST has helped beautify the street especially with the infrastructures found in the new site of the campus. This site is located northeast of the old site.

Outside the campus, a line of palm trees blocked the passersby’s view of more spacious and interesting grounds. But its blue gate, marked with “WVCST” in bold letters, leads the way to a wide straight road that stretches to more than a hundred meters. Adjacent to the main gate, there is also a small gate that is connected with a narrow covered pathway intended to make walking more convenient especially during rainy days. There are also benches along this pathway where students usually stay to discuss assignment or to wile the time away.

There are three main buildings inside the new site: Chemistry Building, Physics Building and Alumni Centennial Hall. There are also minor structures such as the guard house, a coffee shop, rescue group training center and a café. Located far from the gate, the Chemistry and Physics buildings are made more accessible by the narrow covered foot walk that originates near the gate. These rectangular two-storey buildings stood parallel to each other with the wide road in between them. The Alumni Centennial Hall is located near the gate at the southeastern part of the campus. It stood adjacent to the Alumni Park Café. This café provides twelve wooden tables, each of which has two built-in benches. Its green lawn serves a favorite spot of HRM students in practicing their bartending skills like the tricky routine with wine bottles. Located near the gate is the guard house, which stands next to a small temporary coffee shop.

Among the aforementioned buildings, the most prominent is the Alumni Centennial Hall. Its architectural structure is simple; it may even be compared to a residential building. However it stands out in the surroundings because it is newly built, having been inaugurated on September 12, 2006. Furthermore, its fresh look harmonizes with the surrounding gardens. The front lawn boasts a fish pond, which is covered with screen to prevent leaves from falling into it. Orchids, crotons, jackfruit tree, palms, and bougainvilleas are some of the plants that comprise the flourishing greenery in the garden. When it rains, frogs freely jump on the pavement near the garden.

The building has fronts stairs and a ramp that both lead to the entrance, which above it the name of the building is posted in silver metallic letters. The front wall also shows metallic sheets engraved with information about the building like the date of inauguration and the people “who were instrumental in the construction of this hall”. The phrase above the entrance that states “Foremost if I can” stands out. (Perhaps, there is a strong reason why such phrase is allowed to “stain” the entrance). The porch has a bulletin board that shows few pictures about the alumni association activities. Posted opposite the board is a list of donors who have contributed financially for the alumni association.

The lounge at the ground floor offers a warm welcome with its comfortable sofa, wide space, ample lighting and the warm glow of the colors of the walls and floor tiles. At the ground floor, there are two rooms, one is for the alumni association president and the other one is a storage room where chairs and relief goods are found. The two toilets, that are located near the rear entrance, are opposite the small storage room located below the stairs. It is interesting to note that the female toilet has more paraphernalia compared to that of the male. The small storage room looks like a small kitchen. There are plates and empty bottles of soft drinks.

The U-shaped stairway leads the way to the second floor’s conference room. Before the sliding glass doors of the conference room, there are two empty soiled plates, perhaps used as a placeholder for potted plants. There are small paintings such as a portrait of Pope John Paul II.
The conference room is almost empty saved with a long oval table, stack of chairs, some paintings done by the WVCST Alumni Artist Association and a shelf that contains centennial memorabilia. This room also serves as the artists meeting place and exhibit area. However, during the researcher’s visit some of the paintings are shown in an art exhibit in a nearby university. There are some that are interesting to note like the painting of a woman seated on a cube and a painting that call to mind prostitution among students. Both utilize the triangle as the primary form of the woman.

The sliding window that faces northeast shows a variety of vegetation at the vacant lot adjacent to the building. There are sweet potato vines, papaya, mahogany, acacia and other wild plants. It goes to show that this area has not been fully developed yet; unlike the one in the front garden. The terrace that faces northwest gives a magnificent view of the campus. From this vantage point, one can see the birds hopping on the branches of a narra tree and the students walking leisurely after the loud chime that signals the end of the class. The window facing southwest is most intriguing because from this point, one can observe the café’s customers. Furthermore, one can see more of the rusty boarding house, which is just a stone’s throw away. Usual everyday activities of boarders could be easily observed by the keen eyes especially when the boarding house’s windows are wide open. A line of laundry also shows that the boarders are WVCST students!

Considering the surrounding infrastructures, WVCST Alumni Centennial Hall is remarkable. It surely captures the eye of anyone who steps on the wide open space of WVCST new site.