Bacolod’s newest waterpark located in front of the Bacolod City Government Center will be open to the public starting Thursday, December 15.
Bacolod Councilor Jason Villarosa and Ma. Angela Gonzaga cut the ribbon to signal the soft opening of the park Wednesday afternoon.
They wanted to put up something different in Bacolod where families and friends can gather, relax, commune with nature and have fun, Maria Regina Tanpinco Piccio, president of the Fernando F. Gonzaga Corp. that owns the park, said.
At the Plaza Mayor at the entrance of the park is the La Vida Fountain designed by artist Rodney Martinez, which is a tribute to the significance of sugar to the cultural, historical and economic heritage of Negrenses, Piccio said.
It has a sculpture of a hand grasping stalks of sugarcane while the base tells the story of sugar, the lifeblood of Negros.
The water park mosaic also features artworks by local artists, she said.
Also among the park’s attractions are a viewing deck located on top of a hill, a Splash Park Express that one can board at the train station at Plaza Mayor, the Prosperity Pond that has a rock garden and man-made water falls, and Monkey Madness that offers closer-to-the-ground activities like group slides, low-rope courses and rock climbing walls.
The park also has a Kidsville with a custom pirate-themed playhouse, swings, slides, colorful rotary balls, and monkey bars.
It also features garden lights on colonial-inspired wrought-iron lamp posts that blend into a landscape of flowers and greenery, and a field of colors with rows and rows of roses illuminated in varying hues.
The Center Stage at the park is a place where one can sit to watch the sunset and enjoy the stars at night, and where open-air musical and theatrical performances can be staged.
The grandstand, sited in the middle of Splash Park, offers a 360-degree view of its surroundings.
Also in the park is a JT’s Manukan Grille branch owned by Negrense actor Joel Torre and numerous food carts, Piccio said.
The Splash Park will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight from Monday to Thursday, and from noon to midnight from Friday to Sunday and on holidays until December 30, she said.
The park will be closed from December 31 to January 4, she added.
The park is located on a 4.5-hectare property where two five-storey buildings with two-bedroom suites are located. They will serve as long and short stay apartments and are targeted to open in the third quarter of next year, Piccio said.*