Valenzuela City officials over the weekend presided in the groundbreaking of the P90-million structure designed to complement other structures earlier built in the city's government center.

Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian said the three-storey building comprising 4,200 square meters of footprint space will be integrated with the existing Executive Building and will house several key offices of frontline services.

He said actual construction will start next month and is expected to be finished within a 180-day timeframe.

The city mayor was accompanied in the ground-breaking ceremony by Vice Mayor Eric Martinez, city councilors, other key city officials and construction partners.

To be called the People's Center and Legislative Building, it will also house the offices of the vice mayor, city councilors, Sangguniang Panglunsod secretariat, Liga ng mga Barangay, Sangguniang Kabataan, city health, city social welfare and development, public employment service, the local offices of the Department of Interior and Local Government and Bureau of Internal Revenue, city accounting, city finance, city internal audit and city legal office.

"We are building this center so that people will have greater and better access to city government services, that is why we will call it the People's Center," Gatchalian said.

He disclosed plans of acquiring adjacent properties to further expand the city government center now conveniently located along McArthur Highway, the main thoroughfare cutting across the locality.

Glen Encarnacion, head of planning and projects evaluation of the city engineering office, said part of the Mediterranean-inspired structure is a museum dedicated to the city's heritage at the ground floor level.

The old City Hall, now under major renovation, will house the Hall of Justice and the Regional Trial Courts and will be connected with the new city hall by a walkway.