No approved parking plan for Melvin Jones

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan disclosed that there is no approved plan for construction of a multilevel parking structure within the Melvin Jones grandstand, saying that what is available is the conceptual plan prepared by retired Arch. Ignacio Estipono for a one-floor parking but the surface remains a playing field.

The city mayor explained there is no truth to earlier reports that the pay parking project within the Melvin Jones grandstand was already bid out by the city government, saying building  pay parking facility requires a tedious process that has not yet commenced.

“It is unfortunate that there are still some disgruntled quarters who try to misinform our people on the real issues confronting the conceptual plan for the put up of a one-floor parking facility at Melvin Jones.  The surface will remain as a football ground that will serve its purposes,” Domogan said.

The local chief executive pointed out the conceptual plan will still be subject to a full-blown feasibility study to ascertain feasibility of the parking project and identification of solutions on how to address the various social and environmental issues created once the project will be pursued.

According to him, he earlier gave authority to an Australian company to conduct the required feasibility study for the put up of a one-floor pay parking facility within the football facility and it was found out that the project was feasible.

Domogan said the city did not accept the proposal that there will be commercial establishments that will be put up around the pay parking area considering that the conversion of a portion of thefootball ground into commercial areas is not pursuant to the concept of maintaining the park.

He claimed the conceptual plan remains a plan until such time that there will be a feasibility study that will show that the put up of a one-floor parking facility within the Melvin Jones grandstand will be feasible and that all other social and environmental issues shall have been appropriately addressed for the benefit of the present and future generations of city residents.

Domogan assured local residents that the city government will remain transparent in the conduct of consultations regarding the project and that it was never the intuition of local officials to pursue the project without the conduct of a detailed feasibility study that will address the various issues surrounding the realization of the put up of the pay parking facility within the Melvin Jones grandstand.

It was earlier proposed that there will be a one-floor underground parking underneath the Melvin Jones football ground while the surface of the facility will remain as a playing field.

Domogan encouraged concerned stakeholders of the city to continue submitting their recommendations on how to effectively and efficiently address the current problem on the absence of sufficient parking areas that will accommodate a bigger volume of vehicles so that motor vehicle owners will not just park their vehicles in any vacant spaces along major roads that contribute to the smooth flow of traffic in the city’s central business district. -- Dexter A. See