While seeing them go may have been hard for some, a swath of trees removed from the Merrill Festival Grounds border with E. Sixth Street last month will soon be re-purposed for use at the Agra Pavilion, at the River Bend Trail head on Park Street.
As City Administrator Dave Johnson explains, the aging trees had become problematic in terms of both infrastructure and roadway safety.
“They had reached maturity and we began to have issues with limbs constantly falling into the road. The shade they provided caused issues with ice and snow melt on Sixth Street and curb and gutter installation would have adversely impacted the root system, weakening the tree’s ability to withstand wind. Their proximity posed issues with our upcoming improvement projects on Sixth Street, including re-paving and installation of curb and gutter.”
However, rather than scrap or sell the wood, the city instead has chosen to have the raw wood converted to lumber and kiln dried. The final product will be used for interior walls at the AGRA Pavilion, as well as future projects by the Parks and Recreation Department.
According to Greg Hartwig, Co-chair of the The Friends of the River Bend Trail and board member of the River District Development Foundation; interior walls of the pavilion will hopefully be completed by the end of summer.