Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has reaffirmed his support to the restoration of the American-era Army Navy Club in Roxas Boulevard and other historical sites in the capital city.
At a recent media forum, Estrada said the restoration and rehabilitation of such important cultural and historical properties is part of his administration’s urban renewal program.
“Well, of course we are in favor to restore,” Estrada said pointing out that the Army Navy Club project is a matter of extreme urgency since the historical landmark is already in a decaying state.
Estrada has long been supportive of the Army Navy Club restoration. While the project was still being conceptualized in 2014, he had said that the Club, as an important heritage site, should be restored to its former appearance.
“It should be fully restored to its former beautiful appearance, inside and out… to its original glory, so it can attract more tourists and business into our city,” Estrada said in an earlier statement.
“Binondo is being restored. It’s the biggest Chinatown outside of Manila,” Estrada added.
Binondo, according to Estrada, is one of the priority areas of his Urban Renewal Program aimed at reviving Manila’s “old beauty and glory.”
As to the Army Navy Club, Estrada noted that the old building’s foundations have already deteriorated and need retrofitting; the entire structure has been declared as “condemned” by city engineers.
In 2014, the city government has tapped the engineering firm AMH Philippines Inc. to conduct a structural check of the dilapidated building, which concluded that it indeed needs to be rehabilitated.
The city government then entered a 25-year lease contract with Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp. to restore the old Army Navy Club and convert it to a boutique hotel that will be called Rizal Park Hotel.
The boutique hotel design was also approved by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), which has jurisdiction over the Army Navy Club being a declared National Historical Landmark.
Completed in April 17, 1911, the Army Navy Club is the first American social club to be established in the Philippines, designed as rest and recreation area for the exclusive use of the US military personnel and civilians, and later Filipinos. It was the site of many important events in Philippine-American relations.
The building was designed by William Parsons and has his characteristic trademark of the generous use of arches. It was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers and completed in April 17, 1911.
Early this week, the Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed the petition filed by anti-crime group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) that seeks to stop the hotel developer’s ongoing reconstruction activities at the Army Navy Club building.
In a six-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Ramon Garcia, the CA’s 15th Division instantly dismissed the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by VACC for violating the principle on hierarchy of courts.
The appellate court also noted that the decision of the Manila city government to enter an agreement with private entities for the development of the Army Navy Club and the approval of the development by the NHCP cannot be considered a judicial, quasi-judicial or ministerial action that can be a subject of a petition for certiorari.