Soon to be Chinese heritage center: CH terminates Gotiaco bldg lease

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Government and the Gotianuy Realty Corporation have terminated last Friday the lease agreement on the 50-year old Gotiaco Building which the city ordered evacuated following a quake.

 The lease was then turned over to the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Musuem Foundation Inc. which is eyeing the building as a Chinese Heritage Center.

Fr. Jason Dy of Sacred Heart Parish and Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum Foundation Inc. was in City Hall last Friday for the turn over.

He also discussed with City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete the plans of the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum Foundation Inc. for the Gotiaco Building.

Dy said it will be converted into a Chinese Heritage Museum that will tell the history of the Chinese influence in Cebu.

“Because in Cebu we do not have a China town, but we are saying that the whole of Cebu is really a Chinese Community. We are also inspired by the Bahay Tsinoy in Intramuros,” Dy said.

It will be a museum and sort of a library or Chinese Center for ongoing and future researches about the Chinese here.

“There will be a repository of Chinese artifacts and documents. We also want to put a conference or a training room for seminars,” Dy said.

Dy added that they will also consider the plan of the city government to incorporate in their plans the establishment of a Senior Citizen Center within the building.

In the letter of Gotianuy Realty Corporation President Augusto Go to Mayor Michael Rama, the former assured that such concern will be taken up with the Foundation for possible inclusion in the development plan of the building.

“We believe that such development plan for the building is also in accord with your vision to transform the entire corridor (Plaza-Gotiaco-Carbon-Warwick-Freedom) into a heritage cum tourism site,” Go said.

Dy said there is no target date yet for the completion of the project but they have started the research process.

For the meantime, they will be repainting and will put lighting to the building for minor tours.

Dy said that the building plan may change if the Cebu Ports Authority will also develop the Campañia Maritima as they will try to make both historical buildings complement each other.

The area beside the Gotiaco Building is also eyed as a park. It is the space where the warehouses are currently being demolished. — (FREEMAN)