One of the original oaks planted at City Hall in the 1920s, it was already in a precarious condition when independent arborists determined the trees' health during the retrofit and restoration project more than two years ago. It was decided at the time that the root system was not in good shape. We hoped it would be OK with a lot of TLC, but the saturating rains the other night made it very heavy and the high winds blew it over.
Thank goodness nobody was sitting on this bench at the time.
A crew from the Parks and Natural Resources Division of the Public Works Department will cut the tree up in the next day or two, and it will eventually be replaced with a young oak that will have plenty of spunk for the long haul.
Life goes on.
I remember that old oak. Any others at Citihall nearing their end?
ReplyDeleteAre you sure the city isn't gonna replace it with a palm or ginkgo tree?
So sad. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteYears ago we had to have a sickly 150-year-old oak removed from our back yard. It was like a death.
When I called the arborist, she asked, "Is it a [California] live oak?" I said, "No, it's more like a dead oak." It felt like a Laurel & Hardy skit.
Ouch. That's the final kick in the rear I needed to get a permit to take out our dead live oak in the backyard. The arborist declared it dead months ago, but I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of it to city hall along with a check for $100 to remove it. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteIt almost made the century mark
ReplyDeleteI guess all living things die. So a young upstart will take its place.
ReplyDelete"I've fallen and I can't get up!" sorry, that was in bad taste
ReplyDeleteRest in peace, sweet oak!
ReplyDelete