The city was able to identify three potential parking sites within the Burnham Park complex that will address the parking problems within various portions of the city’s premier tourist destination and the central business district area.
Under the proposed Burnham Park master development plan, City Planning and Development Officer Arch. Donna R. Tabangin disclosed that the proposed parking areas in the complex will include the parking slots that will be designated under the Baguio City youth convergence center, below the Baguio tennis court which will be subject for upgrading and near the city creative center aside from the site of the old city auditorium.
She claimed that the proposed parking areas will be able to accommodate a huge volume of motor vehicles, including public utility jeepneys (PUJs) and taxis, to put order in the parking problems in various portions of the park as the same will be in line with the proposed overall development of the tourist destination.
For his part, City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña stated that it will be the local government that will fund the put up of the parking structure near the proposed creative center and the one that will be situated under the tennis court while the parking under the Baguio City youth convergence center will be jointly funded by the public works department and the city.
In the case of the parking structure that will be constructed in the site of the old city auditorium, he stipulated that the same will be offered for the public-private partnership (PPP) and that adjustments are currently being worked out with the different offices of the local government to ensure the feasibility of the endeavor once the city will be able to tap its partner for the said project.
Earlier, several proponents have submitted offers for the put up of parking structures at the Ganza parking area and at the city orchidarium.
However, the city administrator stipulated that the proposed parking structure at the orchidarium will be transferred to the old city auditorium to form part of the proposed creative center but there is a need to add up to the number of stories to ensure that it will be an attractive venture for potential partners of the city in the realization of the said structure.
The city is currently finalizing the comprehensive master development plan for Burnham Park that will be submitted to the State-owned Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) to support the future release of the P480 million that was earlier requested by the local government to upgrade the current state of some portions of the park.
The proposed rehabilitation and upgrading of Burnham Park was supposed to be implemented last year but the funds that had been earlier earmarked for the project had been realigned by the national government to prioritize the funding requirements of the Bayanihan to Heal Us One that was passed to mitigate the effects of the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
TIEZA officials assured city officials that the agency can raise the funding requirements of the upgrading of Burnham Park once the ongoing restrictions on the movement of tourists in the country will be relaxed by the inter-agency task force for emerging infectious diseases. By Dexter A. See