IF WE want to transform Davao into a great city of the Philippines we have to think big. I am reminded of the famous quotation from the movie "Field of Dreams" -- "If you build it, he will come." If we do proper planning then it will happen.

Last month, Ace, a brod of mine, contacted me for some possible titles for his college thesis. He wanted to explore the construction of new structures in Davao City and include a feasibility study for it.

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I gave him some ideas on what I thought Davao City needs today and in the very near future. Among the ideas that came into my mind were a new city hall, an artists' workshop/studio/museum, and a boardwalk in Times Beach.

Unfortunately, his advisers thought that the city was not ready for such projects. Tsk...tsk. I always abide by a quotation I read from Richard Bach's book "Illusions" --- "Argue for your limitations. Sure enough, they are yours."

However, it just got me thinking if it is really possible to have a new City Hall building? Hmmm... Let me share with you my dream City Hall for Davao City.

Unlike other cities, we do not need to relocate City Hall from its present location. We can just demolish the next-door old City Engineering building and build it there. The Rizal Park stays as is because we will be using vertical space to fit all the requirements of City Hall. I envision a 12 to 15-storey building -- tall enough to demonstrate to the citizens the strength and the power of our local government. If Makati City could build it, so could we.

The building will incorporate the green building design concept to make it environment-friendly and energy efficient. Let us have a modern building that will be air cooled naturally, will maximize sunlight for its lighting, and will harvest rainwater for its own water requirements.

The building will house City Hall in its upper floors, perhaps the seventh to fifteenth floors.

The Office of the Mayor will exclusively occupy the highest floor with glass walls to provide him or her with a splendid view of the city's progress.

Perhaps some of the top floor offices can designate areas as public view decks so they can have a different perspective of the city from an elevated vantage point. This will be like the dome of the Reichtag building in Berlin where the public can have a 360-degree view of the city.

What will happen to the lower floors? The City Government will lease it to the private sector or national government offices that enjoy the advantages of the prime location and of being near local government offices.

The lease payments of office space will help pay the loan made to construct the new building. I think that even the fast food chains will scramble to get a space in the building.

Now this will really create a big problem in traffic you would say. I think not. The building will have underground parking areas. Actually, the underground parking areas can be extended to include the spaces underneath the Rizal Park and surrounding streets (I have seen this done in the city of Bern in Switzerland).

This way, we can clear up the area of parked vehicles and really convert the whole area into a pedestrian zone? We can ban vehicular traffic on most of the roads surrounding present City Hall and make them part of large park where people can stroll around.

Now what will happen to the old City Hall? We will transfer our city library to the old building. Maybe we can also put up another museum. We will have more reading spaces for the general public. We can convert other spaces into seminar rooms where we can hold various lectures and workshops for the public.

As it is the original City Hall, I prefer this to house the museum of our political history. The various landmarks of our political development as a city will be highlighted to remind us of our history.

I dream of a City Hall building that will showcase the determination of its citizens and leaders as well as display their dreams and hopes for a bright future.

Now, now -- do not accuse me of merely daydreaming as all these can be done. If all you can think of are the limitations to build such, then go on they are yours...not mine. (rpalabado@gmail.com)

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(December 2, 2008 issue)
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