The Madison Park community is still in a partial state of shock over the removal of about a dozen large, mature sweet gum trees on the north side of East Madison Street, just up from 43rd Avenue East in the business district, and their replacement with 3-inch-diameter crepe myrtles. Unfortunately, they're now known as the "stick trees."
It has left the end of the street looking very barren, with many residents wondering if things will be much better in their lifetimes. To be fair to the city staff involved, the plan was discussed with the Madison Park Community Council and partially approved, though there was a council expectation that it would contribute additional funds to the project to cover the costs of larger-diameter trees.
Somehow, word of this proposed joint venture never made it down through the ranks to the tree planters. The old trees, glorious as they were, had become a liability. The tops were seriously invading the power lines and had been heavily pruned; hence, inviting rot and disease.
Twice in the last 10 years the sidewalks have been replaced because of root-caused damage. On the first of these occasions, the community council had requested planing of the tree roots to delay the onset of the sidewalk damage and, hence, preserve the trees for another decade.
Many of the Washington Park Arboretum's trees do not seem to have been offered the level of preservation efforts afforded their cousins in Madison Park, but neither do they seem to have been causing so much havoc to the surrounding infrastructure.
THE PRESENTATION
Some 80 citizens interested in the arboretum's future gathered at the Graham Visitors Center on May 30 to hear about the scope and schedule for the Phase I construction of the Pacific Connections Gardens Project.
This project - many years in the planning - involves the creation of five "eco-geographic" zones, which means bringing in plantings from four other regions of the world with similar climatic conditions to the Northwest (i.e. Chile, China, New Zealand and Southeast Australia) and clearing out 12 acres at the south end of the arboretum to make way for their arrival.
Former Port of Seattle Commissioner Paige Miller, The Arboretum Foundation's new executive director, said she hoped to present a check for $2 million to cover most of the costs of the project by September 2007. Don Harris, property manager for the Seattle Parks and Recreation, stated that city-funded infrastructure work is already under way, with groundbreaking for the Pacific Connections project is anticipated for October 2007.
NEW VS. EXISTING PLANTINGS
The problem with the clearing and replanting of this section of the arboretum is that many people think that the Arboretum Master Plan should be revisited to keep all existing mature, healthy trees.
Richard Haag, one of Seattle's respected landscape architects, stated that he thought "trees should have the pre-eminent right to the property." He suggested that maybe it would be better to expand on what we already have.
Furthermore, he was very sympathetic to Madison Park residents' concerns in regard to the stick trees, knowing how many years it would take for the tress to mature.
The Seattle Pro Parks Levy mailer announcing the visitor-center meeting stated that 65 trees would be removed for this phase of the project. At the meeting itself, a revised number for tree removal was given as 12.
However, responding to audience questions, no one from any of the three groups managing the project was prepared to rebut the claim that some 550 significant trees would eventually be removed as the arboretum was redeveloped. They did claim that 487 new (presumably of a much smaller diameter) trees would be added.
The advance of the stick trees from Madison Park into the arboretum thus seems assured.
Maurice B. Cooper is the former president of the Madison Park Community Council.
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