Once the center of trade and commerce in the Tuna Capital, what it had to offer in the past two decades are only a few banks, a hardware store, barber shops, old lodging houses, a damaged clock tower, h***y tonk joints passing off as carenderias, vocational schools, and single-storey buildings plus remnants and ghosts of years past like the skeletal remains of the once classy moviehouses. It is a far cry from the old, old days when it was the place to go when one wants to eat (The Terrace, Eskimo Ice Cream Parlor, Cotton Bowl Grill, Joanne’s Bakeshop, Peter Pan, Ceballo’s Panciteria, You & I Barbecue, etc.), or shop (Ram’s Bombay Bazaar, Conlu’s Department Store, Bajunaid Department Store, Eric Commercial & Kimball at the adjacent Pedro Acharon Boulevard, etc.) or watch a movie (Pioneer, Capitol, State and Virgie Theaters). But that is starting to change now with some visible developments going now, not major but nonetheless good enough for one to declare that Pioneer Avenue, which was named after the “first settlers” of this once barren land in the 1930s, is starting to wake up. Starting with this article, Bariles Republic is featuring some notable transformation along Pioneer Avenue. First on the list is the newly MALL of GENSAN, THE AQUARIUM, FASHION WALK BOUTIQUES, 5 STAR HOTEL, RESTAURANTS, ETC ..
