BAGUIO CITY – The local government plans to bid out the construction of the multi-million city hall annex building by April to ensure the expansion of the different offices considering the increasing number of workers and clients transacting business with the city.
Initially, the put up of the city hall annex building was provided a funding of P210 million by the previous administration before it was increased to P400 million by the present administration wherein the same will compose the first phase of the project which has been projected to be completed within 2 years, thus, the need for another P400 million from the annual budget of the city in the coming years to complete the added city hall structure.
The proposed city hall annex building is expected to accommodate the offices of the local legislative body and other vital offices of the city that provide frontline services to help decongest the current city hall building and allow the expansion of the offices that will remain with the old structure.
The city hall annex building will be erected within a city-owned property in Barangay Camp Allen that will include the area currently occupied by the Baguio Fire Station, the same will be relocated within a 3,000square meter area owned by the State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
Based on the plans for the city hall annex building, the same shall be connected with the main city hall building through an underground walkway that will be provided with sufficient lighting to ensure the safety of the employees and people using the same for their transactions with the different local government offices situated in the different structures.
Further, one of the important features of the proposed city hall annex building is the use of solar panels for its roofing to be able to generate renewable energy that will be used to provide power supply to the different offices that will be based on the said structure.
Concerned offices of the local government are now closely working together to ensure that the implementation of the city hall annex building project will be aligned with the long standing proposal to rehabilitate and renovate the old city hall building so that there will be uniformity in the design among other features of the two structures that will accommodate the different offices of the local government.
The local government is set to implement the multi-million project by the middle part or by the third quarter of this year so that the same could be completed by the middle of 2022 wherein the new set of city officials then will be able to occupy their new offices that were programmed for the said purpose.
The last time that the main city hall building was renovated was in the year 2000 or exactly two decades after its proposed renovation was again programmed apart from the put up of another structure that will accommodate the increasing number of personnel for them to be able to deal with the increasing number of people transacting business with the different offices of the local government and for the same to conform with the prevailing trend of the times, especially in the state where there is a rapid advancement of information and communication technology (ICT).
By Dexter A. See
Photo by: Armando Bolislis
