As I mentioned in last week’s column, there are at least three names to that huge building along the national road of Sagkahan District, Tacloban City. These are: Tacloban Astrodome, Tacloban City Convention Center, and Coliseum of the City of Tacloban.

Its design is obviously patterned after two similar structures, one in Pasay City and the other in Ormoc City. Both these structures are named “Astrodomes”. (The most famous Astrodome is that one in Houston, Texas, USA which is used for baseball and football games. It has a capacity of 62,439 persons for football games and 54,816 for baseball games. It was the first ballpark to have a roof over the playing field)

Strangely, however, the sign in front portion of the building in Sagkahan District states that it is the “Tacloban City Convention Center”.

It really is puzzling why a structure has three names.

The choice of the proper name is very important because it tells potential users what facilities to expect in it.

I already mentioned that, in my humble opinion, this structure is not a “convention center” in the sense that such centers should have the facilities like those at the Philippine International Convention Center and many similar facilities in several hotels in Metro Manila and Cebu.

This reminds me of the decision of the Provincial Government of Cebu to redesign what it planned as a sports arena to one that can meet the requirements of the Asean summit – a convention center. This re-design implies that a sports arena has a function and a design different from that of a convention center.

In today’s column, I will focus on the economic and financial angle of the design and name.

Certainly, if prospective users of a “convention center” should inspect it, it will probably not meet their expectations, in terms of acoustics, seating, food serving arrangements and workshop areas. They can make do with what is there, but it may not meet ideal requirements based on the usual program of a convention. Moreover, those that would have convention participants of less than a thousand would probably not choose this venue (they would be paying for space they would not use).

It does not have the usual kitchen and food preparation area that is normally found in convention centers so the food service could be disorderly and problematic.

This being the case, it is safe to predict that few conventions will be held there.

Perhaps, a sports arena would be the appropriate title. But again, very few sports events can be held there because there are not that many sports activities that can seat enough patrons to recover the cost of using the arena (which can reportedly seat 5,000 persons).

It can attract many sports competitions if the city government makes it a policy to subsidize the rental so that the users pay only, say half, of the cost of electricity, water, and other operating and maintenance costs. But then, why should taxpayers of Tacloban City be subsidizing sports events?

So what beneficial use should this building really have to make it self-sustaining? The City Government must have a good answer to this.

Perhaps it was really intended to be a multi-use facility. But in doing so, it sacrificed or traded off certain important needs of different users.

The solution to this dilemma will be a continuing challenge to the City Government.

From a planning perspective, perhaps, one of the appropriate activities that could lead to a better use of this building is to prepare a Master Plan that could include additional reclaimed land (say 10 hectares) for a parking area and long-term projects that could include an area for a concert hall (like the Cultural Center of the Philippines) a shopping mall and an international standard hotel (which the private sector can establish).

It is possible to prepare such a plan covering the next ten years. If this is done, Tacloban City can become the only City in the Philippines with this type of facilities in one area.

What’s in a name?

Let me say this again – plenty.