CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Constantino Jaraula is planning to develop the old water tower near the Cathedral Church and Archbishop Palace into a city museum and archives center.
Jaraula made an ocular inspection early this week at the old water tower located in Dolores Street at Barangay 1.
During his inspection, the mayor discussed his proposal with the officials of Barangay #1 under chairperson Nancy Abejuela and assistant city general services officer Ernesto Edrote to jointly undertake the project.
Under his refurbishment plan, Jaraula envisioned to construct an elevator and a spiral steel stairway as a main passage in going atop the tower that will have a reinforced viewing deck to provide a 360-degree panoramic view of the city to would-be sightseers and visitors.
The three to four storey water tower is considered as one of the oldest edifice in Cagayan de Oro City as it was built in the 1920's and survived the aerial bombardment of Japanese warplanes during the World War II era.
According to Jaraula, the development of the old water tower into a city museum and archives center will showcase a wide range of collections of memento.
It will also have space for documents and records that have relevant historical and cultural value on Cagayan de Oro City.
Aside from safekeeping valuable historical records and materials as an archives center of the city government, the mayor hopes that the conversion of the old water tower into a modern structure will also relive its significance in the city's rich history of the past.
The development of a new city museum and archives center will also help educate our schoolchildren, students and youth of today's generation on the importance and significance in tracing back the experiences and lifestyles of their elders, Jaraula said.
The mayor's plan came when Cagayan de Oro City was chosen as Mindanao host in the 2008 National Archives Day celebration set on October 21, 2008.
The city's hosting is a joint undertaking of the city government through the efforts of Mayor Jaraula and Monsignor Rey Manuel S. Monsanto of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, who is a member of the Executive Council of the National Archives Committee (NCA) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). (Press release)
