BACOLOD CITY — Property giant Megaworld Corp. has allotted 6,000 square meters on its development site along the airport access road, bordering the cities of Bacolod and Talisay in Negros Occidental, for the establishment of the Bacolod City Welcome Park.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced in a press conference on Monday that the proposal was finalized during his meeting with Megaworld executives in Manila last week.
He met with Harold Geronimo, senior assistant vice president and head of public relations and media affairs, and Rowena Sansano, assistant vice president for architectural planning.
The mayor said he suggested the project to Megaworld as he was inspired by the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, a landmark in Nevada, United States. The 25-foot sign is located south of the Las Vegas Strip.
Leonardia said the city’s contribution is just the idea or the concept based on his suggestion, and it will be the property firm that will execute and eventually manage the project, which will be positioned as a tourist attraction of Bacolod.
It will have parking spaces to provide visitors photo opportunities as well as souvenir shops and restrooms, he said.
“They will spend for all these. It was just my idea. They will run the souvenir shops. To be fair with them, they should run that as a business,” the mayor said.
“Can you imagine? We will be the only city in the Philippines to have something like this,” he added.
Leonardia said the groundbreaking is scheduled on June 18, which is the 80th anniversary of the signing of the charter of Bacolod, and the opening of the welcome park is set during the MassKara Festival in October.
Currently, the Suntrust Properties Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Megaworld Corp., is developing a 24.52-hectare mid-cost residential project called The Fountain Grove in Talisay’s Barangay Matab-ang.
The Fountain Grove is part of the 53-hectare Northhill Gateway, a township development that will rise along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road.
Also part of the Northill Gateway is the Forbes Hill, a 15-hectare upscale residential development of Megaworld, which is a first outside Metro Manila. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
