P5.8M South Road Properties welcome sign ‘part of promotion’

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña justified the P5.8-million construction cost of the welcome sign at the South Road Properties (SRP), saying the project is part of the branding and promotion of the 295-hectare facility.

The sign that will be constructed at the welcome hill leading to the SRP will be three stories high and will be made of welded aluminum pipes. It is also designed to withstand storms up to signal number five.

The words “South Road Properties” will be spelled out similar to the “Hollywood” welcome sign, and will include the SRP emblem.

In a news conference yesterday, Osmeña said the welcome sign is the cheap part of the project and that another P20 million will be spent to construct a tower beside the sign.

Willing to wait

But the mayor is willing to wait until the first sale of SRP lots is finalized before constructing the tower.

“It’s P5.8 million but it’s massive, this is not an ordinary billboard signage. This one is structural and it will be like the `Hollywood’ sign. It can withstand signal number four or five. We’re just trying to create a branding and symbol for the SRP,” Osmeña told reporters.

During their July 18 session, the City Council approved the program of works and estimate, amounting to P5.8 million.

The welcome sign, the Sugbu administrative building, the senior citizens building and an old church at the Kawit Point will all be part of the SRP landscape to help sell the property, he said.

Bidding procedures for the sale of the 30-hectare block after the welcome hill will start as soon as the City Government clears the Mambaling side of the SRP.

Big sign

“The landscape we’re working on is part of the branding for the SRP, it’s all part of the business of promoting the SRP and creating many different opportunities. After our first sale, we’ll put up the tower,” the mayor said.

At the entrance to the SRP, a welcome sign that is under construction is already visible to motorists.

But Osmeña said this is just a mock-up model to determine the appropriate size of the sign, which he said should be big enough to be seen by motorists even before they reach the SRP entrance.

The mayor wants the tower to be multi-purpose, which can have coffee shops and double as a water tank that can hold water from deep wells within the SRP.

Once the 15 deep wells are operational, the City hopes to sell up to 20,000 cubic meters of water to the Metropolitan Cebu Water District.