Renovation of Colon buildings pushed

CEBU, Philippines - The Colon Business Association Inc. (CBAI) encourages members to invest on building “beautification” and renovation to preserve the historical and business dynamism of the country’s oldest street — Colon.

CBAI president Jose R. Soberano III said that the primary thrust of the organization this year is to push for improvements of the physical structure of buildings located along Colon Street from south end point of Gaisano Capital South all the way to the University of the Visayas.

“We are making sure that we continue to attract [consumer] traffic in the area, as we are competing with other shopping destinations in the uptown districts,” Soberano said in an interview.

There are at least 50 member establishments of CBAI, Soberano said the group will meet soon to realize this program, in coordination with the Cebu City’s existing project called “Downtown Revitalization” program.

Soberano, whose family owns Quirino-Leonor Rodriguez Building along Colon Street, said that businessmen are willing to put their money on building renovation, after all he said the business dynamism of Colon is still there.

“The downtown [business] dynamism is still there, the strong downtown presence in all local economies is needed,” he said.    

Despite the presence of air-conditioned and ambiance-tempting shopping destinations in the “new urban Cebu”, Colon is still the favorite shopping destinations to many, especially those that are more adventurous to shop for cheaper-priced goods.

As part of the organization’s effort to revitalize Colon Street, Soberano said CBAI will also call the attention of Department of Tourism (DOT) to support its cause of preserving the tourism-advantage of Colon Street.

“It [Colon] is such a historic landmark, they [DOT] have to create awareness program to aggressive push the area a destination,” he stressed.

“We need the heritage component of Colon, as the oldest street in the Philippines,” he added.

Although business is still alive in the area, businessmen believe that if it were to be promoted very well by tourism stakeholders, trade and commerce in Colon Street will reach once again into its full potential, just like in the old days.

CBAI was organized in 1980 with founding members including Michel Lhuillier, Edward Gaisano (Metro Gaisano), Alex Gaisano (Gaisano Main), Rene Avila and owners of Rose Pharmacy, Julie’s Bakeshop, and other Fil-Chinese Cebuano businessmen.

While these businessmen also have their businesses outside of Colon Street, Soberano said this time, they are uniting to help Colon stay alive, and attract more consumer traffic, as well as capture strong interest from domestic and foreign tourists.

While building renovation investment is an individual contribution of the Colon Street locators, Soberano said the group is hoping the local government will also strongly implement stringent rules to maintain peace and order along the street to ensure the security of consumers and tourists alike.