Bidding for new City Hall building set in October
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) recently approved the P350 million loan of the city government for the construction of the seven-storey new City Hall building.
This Mayor Jerry Treñas confirmed in a recent press conference with city hall reporters.
He, however, gave no other details on the terms of bank payment in relation to the loan. In earlier interviews, he said the city has the capacity to pay the loan's principal including its interest.
Treñas said the bidding on who would be the contractor for the new City Hall will be held as soon as possible to avoid the banning period set by the Commission on Election (Comelec) for next year's election.
City Legal Office chief Atty. Edgar Gil, who is also the chair of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), has set the bidding next month.
Based on the schedule, BAC will receive eligibility forms and letters of intent from interested bidders starting October 9-13,2007. The bidding documents will be issued on October 23 until the 27th. The pre-bid conference is scheduled on November 3. The opening of the bids will be on November 3, 2006.
Contractors from places outside of Iloilo can join the bidding as the notice of bidding would be published in national newspapers.
The new city hall building will be constructed at Plaza Libertad. It will sit on the 12,000 square meters of lot presently occupied by the old city hall building. The building will be a combination of new and modern designs to fit the area where old buildings and the San Jose Parish Church are located. The city wants to maintain the uniqueness of the area.
The city hired Architect William Coscolluela to do the structural and engineering design of the edifice. The design plans made earlier by the Coscolluela firm was changed as it's too modern and does not coincide with the old structures located near the city hall.
Meanwhile, the bidding for the temporary office spaces which should be used as temporary city hall has yet to start. There are two malls that offered spaces to accommodate several offices of the city government presently occupying the old city hall.
Robinsons Place and SM City have submitted their interest to house city government offices. Robinson's offered P185/square meter including the use of electricity and air conditioning unit while SM City offered P200/square meter.
Earlier, the association of city hall employees signed a manifesto expressing their desire to occupy space at the Robinson's Place. The employees favored Robinson's over SM City because of its proximity to the city proper area.