IF NOT for strong winds and surging waters hitting them last year, beach shed owners at the Tondaligan (People’s Park) would have stuck to their decrepit facilities.

Now they have finally agreed to leave the waves-battered shoreline and move farther inland.

Uniform sheds or picnic huts made of nipa and bamboo are now being built at areas several meters away from the shoreline which is being continually harassed by surging waves due to strong winds.

The city set the standard size and design for the huts, according to city information officer Ryan Ravanzo. The owners will shoulder the expenses.

The city on the other hand will construct common rest rooms. A baywalk will also be built with corresponding landscaping, Ravanzo added.

The beautification project came amid calls long before to develop the beach area into a truly tourist destination.

The old sheds that lined up the shoreline all the way from the Area 1 Vocational and Rehabilitation Center (AVRC) on the western side to the PAGASA weather station on the east actually blocked the sea from view leaving many visitors wonder where the beach is.

Aside from being an eyesore, some owners of the sheds also used them as sleeping quarters even as the huts were being rented out to couples for short time trysts.

Tondaligan, which is actually a vernacular word for a park, is the name given to the area stretching from the AVRC premises to the fishery research center in Bonuan Binloc. The late President Diosdado Macapagal declared it a national park in 1961.

The presence of squatters particularly in the Binloc area and the garbage dumpsite located right at the beach mars the beauty of the park, city officials said..