Gov’t clarifies old design of grandstand circulating online

ILOILO. Unsolicited and tampered design proposal from a private firm in Metro Manila which circulated on Facebook. (Photo grabbed from Facebook)
ILOILO. Unsolicited and tampered design proposal from a private firm in Metro Manila which circulated on Facebook. (Photo grabbed from Facebook)

THE P45-million Iloilo Freedom Grandstand received backlash from netizens after an old, “unsolicited design” was brought out, however, the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) clarified that it was not the design they prepared and it was “tampered.”

The photo which circulated online lead the public to criticize the current project but architect Dolly Zoluaga of the Iloilo City Planning and Development Office (ICPDO) made it clear that the said design came from a private firm in Metro Manila.

“Ang amu na nga picture (that photo), wala na, but I’m familiar with that proposal because it was presented by a firm from Metro Manila, commissioned also to redevelop the concept initiated by the City Government and as part of this study, nag-ubra man siya (the firm created) sang grandstand and unsolicited proposal,” Zoluaga said.

Based on the design, Zoluaga said that the “oversized banners” at the roof of the grandstand is not part of that proposal and deemed that the design was tampered.

“I would like to protect him as a fellow designer nga daw may nag tamper man sang iya designs,” she added.

Architect Reina Gregorio of ICPDO also said that it was not the design they submitted and the final design they prepared had undergone bidding with no revision of the plan.

“Gina-clarify lang nga the one that’s circulating is not the official design. What was chosen among the design, was the one City Planning prepared. One which we made a study and came up with the design based on the available budget. As much as we would like to implement the concept that was originally prepared, we cannot do so because of the budget constraints and the so-called structural limitations and availability of materials. There was no revision in so far as the contract is concerned,” she added.

Gregorio said that the design which circulated online did not came from their office and they did not prepare it.

“That, I do not know because during sang conceptualization damo (many) solicitations sang ideas so wala ko ya kabalo (I don’t know). That was never considered,” she reiterated.

The design of the new grandstand was originally a creation of architect Paulo Alcazaren which has a total seating capacity of 800. The ICPDO adopted and stretched it to accommodate larger number of people.

The controversial design was believed to possess over 4,000 seats.

The old grandstand can accommodate 1,800 seats while the new structure can accommodate a maximum of 2,000 seats.

Zoluaga stressed that there were a lot of design proposals during the administration of former Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog but all of it were rejected. (Carolyn Jane Abello)

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