ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte: A new state-of-the-art public market will soon rise in Barangay Palao this city.

The P583 million two-story building project will replace the old public market. It will house 1,269 stalls, has a floor area of 2,218 square meters and has 132 parking spaces available around the building.

Mayor Celso Regencia said the old Palao market was built in 1960 in a 9,735 square-meter lot donated by the Laya family to the government. When it was demolished, the vendors were temporarily relocated at the newly constructed market inside the Iligan Bus and Jeepney Terminal Complex in Barangay Tambo.

Regencia said the new public market will benefit all Iliganons.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Jemar Vera Cruz said the project's contractor has vowed 80 percent of the construction's workforce will be from Iligan City.