Megaworld’s Bacolod township gets P45-million fire station

Insider Spotlight

• A P45-million fire station is being built inside Megaworld’s The Upper East township in Bacolod City
• The facility will accommodate about 20 emergency response vehicles and include a four-story drill tower
• Megaworld is also donating land inside the township for a new Philippine National Police station
  
  
  

Construction has started on a P45-million fire station inside Megaworld Corp.’s The Upper East, adding emergency-response infrastructure to the property developer’s 34-hectare township in Bacolod City.

The two-story facility is being developed by the Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (BFCCCII) in partnership with Megaworld. The property company donated more than 2,000 square meters of land for the project, while the BFCCCII’s Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigade will operate the station once completed.

Built for emergencies

The fire station will serve The Upper East and nearby communities, with capacity for about 20 emergency-response vehicles including fire trucks and ambulances.

Plans include an operations command center, administrative offices, training and lecture rooms, sleeping quarters, lockers, exercise areas, a kitchen and storage facilities. A four-story drill tower will give firefighters a dedicated facility for training and emergency-response exercises.

The station will complement the BFCCCII’s existing fleet of fire trucks, ambulances and disaster-response vehicles deployed across Bacolod.

Police station next

Megaworld is also setting aside land for another public-safety facility within the township.

Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya said during his recent State of the City Address that Megaworld would donate a 1,500-square-meter property for the future Bacolod Police Station 3. The land is valued at around P225 million based on prevailing prices within the township.

The two projects expand public infrastructure within The Upper East as Megaworld builds out the former Bacolod-Murcia Milling Co. property into a mixed-use business district.

P38-billion township

Megaworld is investing P38 billion to develop The Upper East, which combines residential, office, retail, hotel and public spaces.

The township already hosts No. 1 Upper East Avenue, Bacolod’s first LEED-certified office building, and more than 1,000 launched condominium units.

Construction is also underway on the Kingsford Hotel Bacolod, which Megaworld said will become the city’s biggest hotel when it opens. The township also includes the 4,100-square-meter Plaza de Masskara public space. —Daxim L. Lucas | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma