The city needs at least ₱ 3.1 billion to fully rehabilitate and upgrade the 34-hectare Burnham Park complex to further entice more foreign and domestic tourists to visit the country’s undisputed Summer Capital that will help in reviving the local economy that was heavily impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
City Planning and Development Officer Arch. Donna R. Tabangin presented to city officials the proposed comprehensive master development plan of Burnham Park with the corresponding cost for the proposed rehabilitation and upgrading of various portions of the premier tourist destination in the city for possible consideration and approval.
She stated that the proposed Burnham Park comprehensive master development plan will serve as a blueprint for future developments that will be introduced in the different portions of the park.
Initially, the city was able to acquire from the State-owned Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) some ₱ 480 million for the proposed rehabilitation and upgrading of the Rose Garden, Burnham Lake and the children’s park aside from improvements that will be introduced in some areas of the city’s premier tourist destination.
The partial upgrading of the identified portions of the Burnham Park will be done as soon as TIEZA will release the committed funding support aside from the other locally-funded development projects such as the put up of the Baguio Youth Convergence Center, the put up of several parking structures and the improvement of the Baguio tennis court.
The proposed Burnham Park comprehensive master development plan will be transmitted to the city council for approval so that it will eventually serve as the basis for whatever development that will be introduced in the city’s premier park in the future.
Further, the city will be submitting the same development plan to concerned government agencies for the provision of funds for the realization of the projects that will be implemented in the different sections, particularly at the Melvin Jones football field, skating rink, Pines Trees of the World, among other areas that had been planned for development.
In 2008, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 695 that bestowed to the local government the full authority to administer, manage and operate the Burnham Pak complex as the national government’s gift to the city during the celebration of its centennial anniversary on September 1, 2009.
The Burnham Park comprehensive master development plan was based on the master plan of American Arch. Daniel Burnham who master planned the city in the early 1900s and other related plans that had been prepared where the same were consolidated and weaved that paved the way for the formulation of the same that will serve as the basis for the implementation of future development projects in the city’s premier tourist destination.
Part of the Burnham Park complex that will be included in the upgrading by the local government is the Baguio Athletic Bowl where the already dilapidated tartan track will be replaced and that the measurement will be adjusted to conform with the prescribed international standards of track ovals to allow the city to already host future track and field competitions that will help boost the local tourism industry.
(Dexter A. See, photo courtesy by Joseph Manzano, RPN DZBS Baguio OIC)