A SHOPPING Center will be constructed inside Mines View Park to attract more tourists while relocating some vendors after it is built.
"Mines View Park is a tourist destination," said City Administrator Peter Fianza. The Mines View nowadays does not look like a park because of the numerous stalls surrounding its iconic view deck, he added.
About 201 vendors will be relocated to the shopping center, said Fianza. These vendors were selected by a memorandum of agreement with the barangay, the vendor's association, and the City Government.
According to Mines View barangay secretary Veronica Bolwa, this agreement prioritizes those who were settled first in the park. She added that all the vendors who are within the park's premises will be relocated to the shopping center.
This way, all stalls will be on the upper part of Mines View Park and the lower main park will be used for the tourists' enjoyment.
"We are not in favor of the transfer because our profits will surely drop due to competition," said Daphne Carimpal, a stall owner. She added that her location for the 21 years is an ideal area, which is along the road leading to the view deck.
Bolwa said the park renovation plans will follow the relocation of the vendors to the shopping center. She added the tentative date of the shopping center's groundbreaking will be on Friday.
The stalls' rent on the shopping center will be a minimum amount plus the cost of the construction, said Bolwa.
According to Fianza, the construction of the shopping center will take 240 days to complete. (Krissy Jesy Pison)