THIS Easter Sunday, the most crowded places in Cagayan de Oro City are the beaches and swimming pools. Family and friends spend their days lounging around beach cottages while children play with sand and waves.
Before everybody gets back to their regular days of hard work and hectic schedule, family and friends laze around for this special day to bond and feel the summer heat.
Fortunately for Kagay-anons, a new vacation spot has opened just in time for the summer season. On April 8, the City Government has finally opened the Kagay-an Lawndale Spring Resort in Barangay Taguanao.
Since its opening, Kagay-anons have flocked in great numbers to enjoy the spring resort's seven pools. The resort was met with good reception from the people that its administrators and even Cagayan de Oro City Council tourism committee chairperson Jay Pascual was overwhelmed.
"I think the people were really waiting for it because almost twenty years na wala jud siya napansin and wala natagaan ug budget. We never expected na ing-ana ang response sa mga tao," Pascual said.
The City Government spent a total of P20 million for the restoration of the spring resort. It took about half a year before the resort was made available to the public.
Pascual said that Lawndale Kagay-an Spring resort has three pools that are available for adults and four pools that can be used by children. One of these is an Olympic-sized pool which can be used for practice by athletes before competitions. The other then vary in size and depth so that even toddlers can safely use them.
"Naay murag fence kay para ang mga adults kay maka tabok didto sa mga pool sa mga bata pero ang mga bata kay dili katabok sa mga adult pool kay aron dili sila malumos," he said.
Aside from these, Pascual boasted the pools' availability to persons with disability (PWD). All the facilities of Lawndale Kagay-an Spring resort have ramps to allow PWDs’ access to them.
"So fair jud sa tanan kay tanan jud maka salom apil," he said.
The 1.3-hectare resort also has other added features. Some of these are tropical huts, open cottages, and gazebos that can be function rooms for events. There is also a canteen within the resort where tourists can buy refreshments.
On its opening day, almost 2,000 people went but Pascual said that every day since then, more and more families and friends were still arriving to check out the place. He said that for Easter Sunday, they are expecting more and more people to make reservations in the resort.
Pascual however said that as of now, the resort's administration does not allow overnight stays and alcoholic beverages inside for the safety of the other users of the pool.
"Kay daghan man gud muanha ug mugamit ana sa mga pool so dili na lang nato i-allow ang alcohol para safe," he explained.
Entrance Fee for the Kagay-an Lawndale Spring Resort is P50 for adults and P30 for children. With the start of its operation, Pascual is also expecting bring in more job opportunities for the locals of Taguanao and income for the barangay.
"Kaning Lawndale Kagay-an Spring resort, garbo jud nato ni sya kay Kagay-anon ni so ato jud ni. Ug dili na nato kinahanglan mulayo pa kay naa na man ni a few kilometers away from the city," he said.