BAGUIO CITY – Delayed for more than three months, the city is about to construct the PHP435- million multi-level Youth Convergence and Multi-Purpose Gym at the Baguio Athletic Bowl by October.
In a message delivered during the flag raising of the city police office on Monday, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the soon-to-rise structure will be built between the tartan track and the swimming pool.
It will have the youth center on the ground floor and the remaining three floors will house courts that could be used for volleyball and other indoor sports including bowling lanes.
City administrator Bonifacio dela Peña on Tuesday said the City Building and Architects Office (CBAO) made some revision on the plans for the project and they hope to have the revised copy by July 15.
From there, the bidding will start.
“We hope to start works by September or October and finish it by October 2021,” the city official said.
The PHP435 million will be released in two tranches –the PHP245 million this year and the PHP190 million in 2021.
Dela Peña said the project should have started earlier but then the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic came in and the country was declared under community quarantine since March 17.
“We have been delayed by three months but then construction has started last July 1, so we can now proceed with our projects,” said dela Peña.
Sangguniang Kabataan federation president and councilor Levy Lloyd Orcales welcomed the start of construction of the youth center and thanked the administration for making it as one of its priorities.
“This is a big deal project for our youth,” the youngest city councilor told the Philippine News Agency.
“We are thankful to the city leadership… to mayor (Magalong) and city administrator (dela Pena) for making sure that this project is intact. This will make into reality the dream of every Baguio youth/athlete for a sports and youth center,” Orcales said.
“This will serve as a space safe for them; the center has the facilities and equipment necessary for a holistic developmental agenda for them,” he said.
He also said though there has been a youth center finished in 1998, referring to the PFVR Youth Center, which also has a gym, however, that structure did not serve “its purpose as a youth center.”
The PFVR Youth Center is now managed by the Department of Education-Baguio Division.
Orcales said the planned multi-purpose hall at the Baguio Athletic Bowl can “support athletes in their needed training and wellness program.”**By Pigeon Lobien, PNA
