Vehicles will no longer be parked in different portions of the 34-hectare Burnham Park once the proposed multi-level parking structure will be constructed.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong requested concerned offices of the city government, particularly the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) and the City Administrator’s Office, to work out the requirements that will pave the way for the construction of the long overdue multi-level parking structure within the park.
He stated the city will be following the footsteps of Manila governments that are now putting up their own and operated multi-level parking structures because it was proven that the operation of pay parking buildings are income-generating endavors.
The Baguio chief executive said that Manila local governments have proven that the operation of multi-level parking structures is a lucrative undertaking thus the said cities reportedly shifted to the construction of their own parking buildings aside from the operation of their joint venture with private companies.
The mayor claimed the proposal of the city government to put up a multi-level parking building within the feasible portion of Burnham Park was already approved in principle by concerned authorities and that the city is simply awaiting the appropriate document for the immediate prosecution of the project.
According to him, the city has to initially use the available funds for the implementation of the put up of the multi-level parking structure in Burnham Park to allow development projects to be introduced in the property with an area devoted for vehicles of park goers.
CEPMO head Rhenan Diwas said the final site of the multi-level parking structure has yet to be determined although what seems to prevail is at the former site of the old city auditorium.
He disclosed there is some P112 million accumulated savings from the projects that were supposed to be implemented in the park which is now available for the put up of the proposed multi-level parking structure to help address the parking needs of vehicle owners who frequent the park and other destinations in the central business district area.
Diwas revealed there were several proposals submitted by pay parking project proponents for the put up of either modular or permanent parking structures in the different sites in Burnham Park such as the former Ganza parking area, orchidarium and the site of the old city auditorium.
However, City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña said the city government will go for the put up of a permanent pay parking structure for the city’s pay parking building based on the recommendations of structural experts for safety purposes.
He explained that modular type of structures is not recommended in the case of the city because it is unsafe, especially during earthquakes as the same will pose a serious threat to life and limb. By Dexter A. See
