Treñas eyes buying existing building for new city hall
The UEC building viewed from the Iloilo Freedom
Grandstand..
For lack of interested bidders in the construction of the proposed multi-million Iloilo City Hall building, the city's chief executive might settle in buying the four-story UEC building in corner JM Basa-Mapa streets.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said UEC building which is owned by the Bank of Commerce is being offered for sale at P50 million. He said the building can already accommodate several offices and departments of the city government.
The UEC building is located across Iloilo Freedom Grandstand or right within downtown Iloilo City. The building used to house the radio and television stations of Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC TV-12 and dyBQ). At present the building is being occupied by Bank of Commerce and a smaller bank in the ground floor, while several other tenants rent spaces in the building.
The chief executive said another option left for the city is to downsize the proposed plan for the city hall from seven-storey to four-storey to fit the budget for the construction of the city hall. Earlier, the plan was only to reduce the number of floors to seven.
Treñas said if they will opt to buy the UEC building renovations could be made at minimal cost. He will meet with members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod today to discuss the option. The meeting will also be attended by urban planners and key city hall officials on the possibility of purchasing an existing building instead of constructing a new one.
The proposed construction of the new city hall has been snagged by the failed bidding for the board piling works. The board piling works is supposed to be the initial work for the construction proper of the proposed city hall building. The approved cost for the board piling work is P59 million.
The contract for the board piling work was first awarded to the International Builders Corporation but it later withdrew due to a meager budget. They asked for an additional P13-15 million for the board piling works. However, the city decided to rebid the project which up to now do not have takers.