BACOLOD CITY — Mayor Evelio Leonardia said Monday the city government is eyeing to build a multi-purpose coliseum and a museum for arts and culture within the same location.
A donated property is being considered as the site, but the mayor declined to reveal the proposed location for the two projects. He hinted, however, that he intends to see more infrastructure development in the southern part of the city.
“Our prospect is very ideal. One rule is, I would like to spread the growth. We would like to see that the growth of Bacolod is more balanced. We would like to counter, in a sense, the very positive growth in the north. We now want to develop the south,” Leonardia said.
The construction of the PHP800-million Bacolod MassKara Coliseum is among the four big-ticket projects proposed to be funded by the PHP1.7-billion loan being eyed by the city government from the Municipal Development Fund Office of the Department of Finance.
Previously, Leonardia said Bacolod needs a bigger facility to host major sports events.
“It should be a kind of structure befitting the stature of Bacolod as a highly-urbanized city and as one of the fastest-growing local economies. We are growing by leaps and bounds, a coliseum will just be a facility that a city like Bacolod should have,” the mayor said.
Leonardia, meanwhile, said the final architectural design for the museum will be presented by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who had earlier committed to facilitate the release of a PHP150-million fund for the construction of a three-storey museum next year.
When he presented the proposed structure last March, Zubiri said the name of the building would depend on what would be approved by the City Council and the city government.
Based on the initial proposal, the building’s first two floors will house the MassKara museum, which will display the masks and garments used by performers of the world-famous MassKara festival held every October, while the top floor will house an amphitheater. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
