‘Walkway rings, rising spirals in Naga’
The industrial city of Naga in Southern Cebu will soon have another attraction for more locals and tourists.
This after City officials formally launched the plan to convert the old Naga municipal public park into the “Pasilong sa Naga” during the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.
“Pasilong sa Naga” is a P10.5-million park development project conceptualized by the City Government as a way to address the need for more open spaces in the city, said Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong.
The design of the “Pasilong” was made by world-renowned Cebuano industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue.
In an interview, Cobonpue said the design features a series of interlocking rings that function as walkways that spiral into trees around the park.
The interlocking rings, Cobonpue explained, stand for the unity in the City’s politics and culture.
Between the rings are fountains for park goers.
Cobonpue said no existing tree will be sacrificed in the development.
“In fact, we need to add more trees,” Cobonpue said.
He said this is his first time to design a park for a local government.
He had been tapped by many institutions abroad, but it was only in the City of Naga that he will be designing a local park project.
“I’ve been receiving requests from local government units to design their parks, but it was only Mayor (Kristine) Chiong who really followed me up on her request,” Cobonpue said.
Aside from the “Pasilong,” Cobonpue is also assisting the City of Naga in designing the second phase of their Naga Boardwalk, which will start development before the end of the year. Chiong told SunStar Cebu that the “Pasilong” was made after the city applied for financial support before the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the creation of new parks and open spaces.
After the DILG granted Chiong’s request, she immediately communicated with Cobonpue on her plan and sought help from the city officials to make the project possible.
Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, who was a guest during the city’s 11th Charter Day celebration yesterday, expects that the park, along with the Naga Boardwalk project, could attract local and foreign tourists to flock to the southern Cebu city.
“It will be a model for sustainable tourism. I’m sure everybody would love to see the design of Kenneth Cobonpue,” Puyat added.