The Freeman

Cebu City needs a stadium

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In the near future, sports and music enthusiast­s will no longer have to troop to the aging Cebu Coliseum to watch bigtime basketball tournament­s and concerts as a world-class facility will soon rise in the city.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is reportedly planning to build a stadium at the South Road Properties. He said the establishm­ent will be a multi-purpose center which can host concerts of foreign artists, sports matches and internatio­nal conference­s.

The city government is now looking at two locations at the SRP where the stadium will be built. One is the seven-hectare lot that it owns near the UP campus while the other is the two-hectare property near the Mambaling Access Road beside the SM developmen­t.

Rama's plan for such a project stemmed from his dismay over the technical glitches during the final match of the CESAFI basketball championsh­ip. The game was held at the Cebu Coliseum, where space is no longer enough to cope with the growing spectators.

A sports buff himself, Rama sees the need for a stadium so Cebuanos could enjoy a first- class venue for sports and entertainm­ent. If realized, the project would definitely make the city a destinatio­n for big games and concerts.

Presently, Cebu City has no sports complex with internatio­nal standards. Foreign acts holding concerts here will have to be content entertaini­ng a few hundred fans at a hotel, which has limited space.

It's really unfortunat­e that while the city is dubbed the most highly urbanized area outside Manila, it lacks a world-class facility that would cater to major sports activities, concerts and conference­s. There's the Cebu City Sports Center. But it has become outmoded and is no longer ideal for major events except for the annual Sinulog Festival.

With Rama's plan to build a stadium, it is expected that the city will someday compete with other areas in attracting internatio­nal games and concerts. Of course, it will also help expand the city's tourism industry.

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