Mayor Remollo asks plan for modern Dumaguete

CEBU, Philippines - Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo has tasked prominent architects and masterplanners in the country and in the region to make a modern design for the future of the city, the main feature of which is an underground parking space, stretching from the old City Hall up to the public market.

Renowned master planner Dr. Efren Padilla, Architect Joseph Palafox, and former vice mayor of Union City and landscape architect in San Francisco, USA, Manny Fernandez were requested by the mayor, three months ago, to make a land development plan and design for the old City Hall—to include Quezon Park and the market—as well as the future City Hall.

Remollo said he is excited to see the future of Dumaguete where additional parking spaces be made available through the underground technology, including the two-hectare lot from the church to the market.

With the futuristic design, it is expected to generate thousands of parking spaces in the city for a fee, that would give more spaces for pedestrians and even car owners to just walk around the city on the ground level, said the mayor.

Another important feature of the design, requested by Remollo, is the landscaping, development and rehabilitation of the Belfry tower, which he wanted to be emphasized as an icon of the city by allowing the market to set back, and preserving another icon—the old City Hall as as a museum—and the church itself.

There are plans also for the rehabilitation of the public market, after 20 to 25 years, for it to have bigger spaces between stalls and additional leasable spaces for investors, under the build-operate transfer scheme.

Due to the huge financial requirements, Remollo said the private sector will come into action under the public private partnership using the lease-to-own scheme.

He said the city has a lot of real properties to be leased in order to generate P150 million to P200 million, such as the City Engineering Office compound and the properties at Barangay Talay to finance the projects. (FREEMAN)