THE LOCAL government of Baguio earmarked an initial P410 million from its approved P2.179-billion budget this year for the construction of an eight-story legislative and parking building within the 1,500-square-meter city-owned lot near the Baguio Fire Department.
Architect Johnny Degay of the City Building and Architecture Office (CBAO) said the detailed engineering plans of the proposed structure are currently being prepared by their office which will be the basis for the public bidding.
About half of the project cost would be sourced from the annual budget of the local government in 2018.
The balance of P200 million will be sourced from the approved budget of the city for this year.
Degay said the ground floor of the proposed structure will accommodate the offices of the Baguio Fire Department and other offices of the local government, including the parking area for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.
The second to eighth floors will be devoted for parking areas and other offices of the local legislative body, including its desired state-of-the-art session hall, among others, while the ninth floor will serve as a deck for the installation of solar panels to provide additional source of power for the building.
According to Degay, the proposed government building will have an underground walkway that will link the building to the old city hall building to facilitate transactions with the different offices of the local government.
Degay added one of the features of the building will be the use of green architecture.
The architect presented the conceptual design of the multi-level parking and legislative building to the members of the local legislative body during their 12-hour marathon budget deliberations last December 27, 2018.
The design was conditionally approved by the local legislators with the requirement that the detailed engineering plans will be submitted to them for further scrutiny. (PR)