City gov’t to study site for proposed sports arena

ILOILO City administrator, Atty. Hernando Galvez assured that there would be a formal feasibility study on the proposed site of the Iloilo Sports Arena.

“Bag-o ka na mag-enter sa contract there will be formal feasibility study and since 2004, sige-sige ang pagtuon naton para sa project nga ina,” Galvez said.

Mayor Jose Espinosa III said that they are looking into the La Paz Plaza as the site for the sports facility.

The City Council recently authorized Espinosa to negotiate a P500-million loan from either the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) or the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to finance the construction of the sports arena.

According to Espinosa, they are eyeing La Paz Plaza as a possible site because it is considered as a sports plaza, not a heritage site.

“May isa ka area dira pwede kita ka-ubra gym that can seat 7,000 people and may ara na didto tennis courts and a football field. Gusto man naton actually i-rehabilitate ang football field,” Espinosa explained.

Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo supported the mayor’s proposal saying that the LaPaz plaza is not a heritage area.

“Our new site is the La Paz Plaza because it is not one of those included in the heritage structure. You can avail of the parking space, because the area is wide enough that you can have a parking space on one side and there’s no problem of parking,” Peñaredondo said.

Before the La Paz Plaza, the city considered areas in Molo and the Terminal Market as proposed sites for the sports facility.

Espinosa said that the Molo site was too costly because of issues on the land area while the Terminal Market site would not be conducive because of its limited parking space.

Aside from the space, the construction will disturb the whole operations of the Terminal Market, according to Peñaredondo.

Meanwhile, Galvez assured that after the negotiations on the loan, the study will be conducted which will be followed by the terms of agreement.

“One thing is certain, we need the sports arena to help the city. Kay kadamo gid ga-request nga diri sa aton mag-hold sang different sports activities pero ang city gapang-arkila lang kay wala kita lugar na maka-cater,” said Galvez.

Espinosa envisions a fully air-conditioned multi-purpose sports arena that can accommodate 7,000 people.

In his letter to the council, he emphasized that the city lacks facilities that can pass the requirements for the hosting of national tournaments.

He wanted to give the youth state-of-the-art facilities because the lack of these facilities “limits the discovery of local aspiring athletes for amateur and professional level”.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

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