Iconic Landmark: P163-million museum-auditorium will soon rise in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY — Another iconic landmark will soon rise in Bacolod — a PHP163-million museum-auditorium comparable to the famous structures around the world.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is facilitating the funding for what he considers a legacy project, presented the architectural design for the two-structure green building that is environmentally-responsible and resource-efficient, in a press conference held at the L’ Fisher Hotel on Sunday.

“We want to make it iconic. This design will be comparable to the beautiful buildings in other countries. This is similar to the Opera House in Sydney or The Guggenheim but a smaller and more affordable version,” he said.

To create the design, Zubiri tapped architect Leonilo Ramon Lichauco of the Manila-based LG+V Architect/Planners, who joined him during the launch in Bacolod, also attended by city officials, including Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, Councilors Em Ang, Caesar Distrito and Bartolome Orola.


“I’m going to work out the budget for this for 2019. This is part of my legacy projects for Bacolod City and Negros Occidental,” said the senator, who traces his roots -- father side -- in the city and the province.

Initially, Zubiri announced last March that the budget would only be PHP150 million.

Zubiri said Mayor Evelio Leonardia himself will announce the location of the project. Familiaran confirmed this, saying the mayor will reveal the chosen site for the museum-auditorium on October 25.

Zubiri said the construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019 and is expected to be completed in about two years.

In his presentation, Lichauco said the two structures, which will each have two stories, will include a multi-purpose museum and an 800-seater amphitheater with a gross floor area of 5,000 square meters.

Describing the design as organic architecture, he came up with leaf-shaped buildings connected to each other. Lichauco said the structure will collect rainwater to be used for landscaping and for the fountains in front of the buildings.

Zubiri also said that solar panels will be placed on the roofs as a nod to Negros Occidental as the solar energy capital of the Philippines.

“We want this to be a green building, a self-sustainable energy efficient building,” he said.

“It has a very unique design, the only (one) in the whole Philippines. We want to leapfrog Bacolod into the 21st century, incorporating the modern with the old structures,” the senator said. (PNA)