Construction of the Tagbilaran City Friendship Park in Barangay Bool started to make headway and is about 36 percent complete, said a City Hall official.
Tagbilaran City Engr. Pianicita Castolo on Wednesday pointed out significant progress on the construction of the park’s amphitheater, which has started to take shape, and its allotted area for the statues of Sikatuna and Legaspi.
Castolo’s pronouncement was made after a meeting with the engineers of the project’s contractor LABB Construction in Barangay Bool yesterday.
According to Castolo, Department of Tourism 7 director Jay Lanete also conducted an ocular visit at the park’s construction site last Monday.
Lanete commended City Hall for its efforts to develop another attraction in the city, Bohol’s gateway to the slew of tourist destinations in the province, said Tagbilaran City Mayor Baba Yap.
According to Yap, he is optimistic that the TIEZA-funded (Tourism Infrastructure Enterprise Zone Authority) park can already be utilized for the city’s next Saulog celebration in 2018.
Previously, TIEZA in Manila released P15 million as the first tranche of the project’s P58-million budget.
The park will also feature an audio visual room, a bronze monument of the Blood Compact, a botanical park and stilt-supported structures along a mangrove forest that will house souvenir and coffee shops.
Concept for the park was started by the late Chronicle editor-publisher Atty. Zoilo “Jun” Dejaresco who was project chair during the administration of former mayor Jose Torralba.
The original design was done by architect Eufrasio Araneta and was the basis for the final blueprint crafted by architect Nino Guidaben. (WM)