If a tree falls at city hall, you bet somebody hears.
A segment of the public expressed shock and dismay that the thick trunks and arching canopies on the eastern lawn along George Street were being sawed off.
The primary protest was contained within a single word. Why?
The answer is, to accommodate the construction of a housing complex on the block of vacant land next door to city hall.
It has long been known and discussed at public hearings that this construction project was afoot. Part of the plan required the removal of some but not all of city hall's popular trees. While the cutting of the trees was not broadcast as its own issue, it was part of the outline put on the public record from the outset of the proposal.
"The trees are green ash and American elm estimated to be about 65 to 70 years old," said City of Prince George director of external relations Rob van Adrichem.
"The three spruce trees (in line with the affected old deciduous trees) are younger and were planted eight years ago. The spruce trees are being moved to Duchess Park probably this week."
The construction of the houses and driveways for the new living area required underground infrastructure that would damage the trees' root systems too much to be reasonably safe even if it didn't kill the trees outright. For public safety and for the purposes of new arborizing, it was deemed prudent to remove that select timber.
"The other trees at city hall are to remain. In addition, the developer is ultimately intending to plant more than 100 new trees on the site," van Adrichem said.
He added that staff within city hall pledged to make the most of the "regrettable" situation.
He and the Community Services manager responsible for the city's arts and culture files, Doug Hofstede, personally joined that effort.
"We reached out ahead of time to various organizations and people that we thought might be able to use the trees for various products," said van Adrichem.
"This included the woodturners guild. It seems they have used trees from civic property in the past," van Adrichem added. "A couple of the ash trees at city hall have very large burls which are appealing to the woodturners. I also connected with former colleagues at UNBC (the wood engineering program as well as academic staff in forestry and the research forests) to see if they might be able to use the wood for some teaching/research purposes. Green ash, in particular, is valued for its acoustic properties and I was familiar with a prof at UNBC who had previously done research on that topic. We're still exploring some options with UNBC. They require the ability to saw some of the trees into planks/boards, which we are also still exploring."
A call will be issued for expressions of interest in the wood, he said, once the removal has been fully concluded. That will be done through public information platforms and within the established arts networks of the city.
"We're thinking it would be ideal if some of the products made from the trees could be used as fundraisers for local charities," van Adrichem said. "Parks (the municipal department facilitating the tree removal) is making sure they cut pieces as long as practical so as to not eliminate options for artists and others. Once we have a better sense of the fibre quality and how people will be able to inspect and access the wood, we'll probably issue an invitation and call for proposals."
