AS construction related to Phase 1 of the Garapan Revitalization Project continues, Variety spoke with several tourism industry stakeholders to discuss their views on improving Paseo De Marianas.
According to Variety news files, the Garapan Revitalization Project focuses on repaving roads, updating sidewalks and curbs, adding new lighting and landscaping as well as 350 new parking stalls in the island’s tourism district.
Paseo De Marianas is a major part of that development.
Angelo Viernes, a cook at a hotel in Garapan, supports the project.
“We should prioritize the spot that’s making you money in Saipan,” Viernes said. The island’s “popular spot,” he added, is Garapan.
Viernes studied culinary arts at the Northern Marianas Technical Institute and was an intern at a Garapan restaurant prior to his current job.
“Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of bars and clubs full,” Viernes said. “I’ll see a whole lane of parallel parked cars. If tourism comes back, the bars will need more parking spaces. I think [more parking spaces] is a good idea.”
He added: “I love seeing tourists. During the pandemic I asked, where’s the tourists man? I want to talk to y’all.”
Viernes said when he was younger, he and his friends would “stroll around Paseo De Marianas,” and that he’s going to miss the way it looked when it was strictly for pedestrians.
But as a stakeholder in the industry, he understands what destination enhancement could do for Garapan.
Franko Deleon Guerrero is a front desk clerk. Like Viernes, he liked Paseo De Marianas as a pedestrian-only area. “I feel like it was easier for tourists because they don’t all have cars to drive.”
However, Deleon Guerrero said, “there’s actually not that much difference and it’s just the same if the sidewalks are there.”
He said even if he works in Garapan, the ongoing construction has not inconvenienced him.
Rosemarie Chisato works at a bakery that is mere steps away from the construction site. She said there is a potential for an uptick in business once construction is completed.
“Parking [is] a problem. When they fix [this street], we’re going to have available parking,” she added.
However, while construction goes on, business seems slow, she said.
Mat Roderick, a lifeguard, said the construction project at Paseo De Marianas is “work that needs to get done.
“It really depends on the roads and if they can make them convenient,” Roderick said. “If it all works, then it’s perfect. I think it will be difficult because of how small [the area] is, but hopefully it works.”
Roderick, who became a certified lifeguard in Hawaii, said he loves his job. “And meeting new people is great,” he said.
Kazuma Matsumura works alongside his father in the Japanese restaurant his family owns at Paseo De Marianas.
Matsumura said currently, his customers “need to park far away and then come here.”
“Things are slow, but I don’t know if that’s just because of parking or financial issues,” he said. “It’s rough for people making a living.”
As for revitalizing Garapan, Matsumura said, “I think it’s great. Garapan is the center of Saipan, in my eyes, so I think it’s great they’re trying to revamp Garapan.”
Angelo Viernes
Franko Deleon Guerrero
Rosemarie Chisato
Mat Roderick
