ILOILO City – It is going to be the Dinagyang season three months from now. Will the new Freedom Grandstand be completed in time for the January 2019 festival? “One hundred percent sure,” declared Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI) chairman Ramon Cua-Locsin.
A new and bigger grandstand is being constructed on a 2,600-square meter property acquired for P32 million by the city government from Panay Railways Inc. on Muelle Loney Street facing the Iloilo River.
The old grandstand had been demolished to give way to the revival of Sunburst Park, an open space for recreation.
According to City Engineer Roberto Divinagracia the construction timeline is being followed, said Cua-Locsin during the recent launching of the 51st edition of Dinagyang.
“Kon indi matapos, daku gid nga problema,” said Cua-Locsin.
He revealed that IDFI already received reservations for 400 seats at the new Freedom Grandstand from a Japanese cruise ship that would be dropping by Iloilo City for the Dinagyang Festival.
The new grandstand would have a seating capacity of 4,000 – twice the seating capacity of the old grandstand. Its construction has a budget of P50 million.
The new grandstand would have an accompanying multi-purpose building that would house some city government offices like the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office and Transportation Management and Traffic Regulation Office, among others.
In place of the demolished old grandstand, on the other hand, Sunburst Park would be revived. Over 50 years ago, the park gave way to the construction of the Freedom Grandstand – a memorial to the Iloilo City Freedom Law or Republic Act 1209 that then senator Rodolfo Ganzon authored in 1955 empowering the people of Iloilo City to elect their own leaders. Prior to the law’s enactment, officials of Iloilo City were appointed by the President.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority of the Department of Tourism and the Bureau of Customs would be teeming up for Sunburst Park’s revival.
Sunburst Park was named in honor of the American 40th Infantry Division of the same nickname that liberated Iloilo City from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
The revived Sunburst Park would include, among others, a public park with amenities for food, service, outdoor recreation spaces, and an assembly area for interaction and socialization./PN
