Rama dreaming of moving city hall to SRP

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama wants to have all Cebu City Hall offices in a single compound at the South Road Properties (SRP) to make all government transactions more accessible to taxpayers.

Rama is confident that his plan would decongest  traffic along downtown streets, thus improving vehicular flow in these areas.

Once relocated, the old city hall complex will be converted into a cultural and heritage area.

But his plan needs  to undergo a thorough study by architectural experts whom he wanted to tap for the realization of his “dream.”

“It will be under PPDG (people-privately driven governance) by a school of architecture for a paper concept for a complex in the SRP where city hall and other government functions will be located,” Rama said during his noontime press conference.

While his dream project will take years to implement, Rama said, he already made the first step by asking SRP Management Office head Roberto “Bu” Varquez to head its implementation.

The Rama administration put up a city hall block at the SRP located close to the Central Visayas office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7).

The 3.2-hectare property now houses the newly-built motorpool and warehouse worth  P60 million.

Rama said the city hall block is also close to the 7,000-square-meter lot which the city donated to the Supreme Court in 2012 for the construction of its Court of Appeals building.

The old city hall building can be converted into a museum.

Rama likened his plan to the Washington D.C. area which has  the US Capitol and several other government buildings within its confines.  Visitors walk around the block because of restricted vehicle entry.

“It will become an inner city, a tourist attraction for lovers of culture and arts, for domestic, local and international tourists,” he said.