A famous musical dancing fountain in the heritage city of Vigan will be replaced with a better one after a strong earthquake and lightning damaged the man-made attraction.

Ilocos Sur Governor Jeremias “Jerry” Singson confirmed this on Thursday as he reported they have found several cracks in the foundation after the July 27 magnitude-7 earthquake in Abra and its neighboring provinces in Northern Luzon. The high-tech machine that runs the dancing fountain was also struck by lightning 20 days before the tremor.

“Our dancing fountain was greatly affected by lightning and earthquake. Based on our estimate on the cost of damage, it would be wiser for us to just replace it totally,” Singson said in an interview.

He assured a more beautiful dancing fountain will rise in the same area to attract more tourists to the city.

Located at the old Plaza Salcedo, sandwiched between the Vigan Cathedral and the provincial capitol building, the square underwent a major renovation to give way to the pioneering installation of a dancing fountain in Ilocos Sur province.

With a damaged obelisk at its center, the provincial government has decided to replace it with a new one. Officials, however, did not say how much is needed to replace the dancing fountain and when the new construction will start. (PNA)