No less than Manila Mayor Joselito Atienza, the architect of the Buhayin and Maynila program, was the guest of honor during the ceremonies. Joining him were city and barangay officials led by Councilors Miles Roces, Assuncion Fugoso, and Manuel Zarcal; Manila Jockey Club executives Alfonso Reyno, Martin Cepeda, and Henry Kahn; SM officials led by Henry Sy Jr., and Hans Sy; and the mall’s construction and engineering team.
The program began with an invocation and blessing by Father Domie Guzman, and was followed by welcome remarks by Hans Sy, SM prime Holdings’ senior vice president for operations and engineering.
Manila Jockey Club president Alfonso Reyno then spoke about the development of the former racing area into a mixed-use commercial complex; while Mayor Lito Atienza enthused about how an SM mall would contribute to the development of this historic area.
The highlight of the event was the ground-breaking ceremony participated in by Mayor Atienza, Hans Sy, Henry Sy Jr., Alfonso Reyno, and Councilors Roces, Fugoso, and Zarcal. Also taking part in the ground breaking were Architect Jose Siaoling, Dennis Abcede, and SM’s Jeffrey Lim and Antolin Paule.
This was followed by a capsule-laying ceremony of which Atienza and Henry Sy Jr. took part.
SM City San Lazaro, which is expected to be completed in 2004 will rise in the Manila Jockey Club site. One of the country’s oldest racing clubs and the first in Southeast Asia, it was formed in the summer of 1867 by a group of sportsmen led by Jose de la Gandarra y Navarro, the Spanish Governor General of the Philippines.
It has evolved over the years to become the place for horse racing enthusiasts, and is today being prepared for its development into a mixed-use commercial complex, part of which will be SM City San Lazaro.