wahyinghung
06-09-2009, 09:04 PM
Vancouver’s first tourist attraction will receive a $150,000 facelift on Thursday with help from donors and volunteers.
The Hollow Tree in Stanley Park will be forced upright by a large crane to put the tree back to its original vertical position. In the next month, volunteers will install metal rods inside the tree to keep it safely propped up, said Russell Whitehead, the site manager.
The 1,000-year-old tree became a concern of the Vancouver Parks Board when it started to tilt after the 2007 storm that destroyed hundreds of trees in the park.
The tottering tree became a liability to the park because it could fall over and hit tourists who for decades have taken their pictures beside the tree, said Loretta Woodcock, vice-chair of the Vancouver Parks Board.
“The whole thing has been a saga,” Woodcock said of the decision to keep the tree or cut it down.
The tree was guarded with a fence to keep the public away, and the debate on its future began in February 2008, she said.
Engineers were called in to see if the tree could be salvaged. They determined saving the tree had a $200,000 price tag.
“It was quite controversial. People kept sending us e-mails telling us we've got to keep the tree up, it’s a landmark, it’s an artpiece, it’s an icon. Also, other people were saying that we can’t spend that kind of money on the tree.
“We decided not to spend that money on the tree, to put that tree to rest,” she said. Last year, parks board members unanimously agreed to cut the tree down.
Stanley Park regulars formed the Stanley Park Hollow Tree Conservation Society a month after the decision was made.
They decided to fundraise to save the tree, and successfully convinced the board to keep the tree if they could find the money to pay for raising the tree upright.
To date, 80 per cent of the necessary funding has been secured.
“[The parks board] sees Stanley Park as a nature preserve, that everything should be natural,” said Bruce MacDonald, spokesman of the Hollow Tree Conservation Society.
“We say it’s not a tree in the woods, it’s not a tree from nature. It’s dead. It’s always been a monument to trees that used to cover all of Vancouver,” he said.
Whitehead said tourists and Vancourites agree. He visits the tree every other day to ensure it “didn’t fall over.”
He said one out of 10 tourists and park regulars passing by will scream “tear it down” from their car window, while the other nine pause to take pictures.
“If we didn’t preserve it, it’d be on the ground rotting away. Once it’s up straight, it will be here forever,” he said.
Cement will hold the tree in place and metal rods will line the inside of the tree, Whitehead said.
About $65,000 worth of materials and labour were donated by various companies including Oceans Cement and Con-Tech Systems.
Another $55,000 was raised by the society. They have to raise more than $30,000 in cash, said MacDonald.
To donate, visit www.savethehollowtree.com.
http://www.theprovince.com/Stanley+Park+Hollow+Tree+gets/1678673/story.html
The Hollow Tree in Stanley Park will be forced upright by a large crane to put the tree back to its original vertical position. In the next month, volunteers will install metal rods inside the tree to keep it safely propped up, said Russell Whitehead, the site manager.
The 1,000-year-old tree became a concern of the Vancouver Parks Board when it started to tilt after the 2007 storm that destroyed hundreds of trees in the park.
The tottering tree became a liability to the park because it could fall over and hit tourists who for decades have taken their pictures beside the tree, said Loretta Woodcock, vice-chair of the Vancouver Parks Board.
“The whole thing has been a saga,” Woodcock said of the decision to keep the tree or cut it down.
The tree was guarded with a fence to keep the public away, and the debate on its future began in February 2008, she said.
Engineers were called in to see if the tree could be salvaged. They determined saving the tree had a $200,000 price tag.
“It was quite controversial. People kept sending us e-mails telling us we've got to keep the tree up, it’s a landmark, it’s an artpiece, it’s an icon. Also, other people were saying that we can’t spend that kind of money on the tree.
“We decided not to spend that money on the tree, to put that tree to rest,” she said. Last year, parks board members unanimously agreed to cut the tree down.
Stanley Park regulars formed the Stanley Park Hollow Tree Conservation Society a month after the decision was made.
They decided to fundraise to save the tree, and successfully convinced the board to keep the tree if they could find the money to pay for raising the tree upright.
To date, 80 per cent of the necessary funding has been secured.
“[The parks board] sees Stanley Park as a nature preserve, that everything should be natural,” said Bruce MacDonald, spokesman of the Hollow Tree Conservation Society.
“We say it’s not a tree in the woods, it’s not a tree from nature. It’s dead. It’s always been a monument to trees that used to cover all of Vancouver,” he said.
Whitehead said tourists and Vancourites agree. He visits the tree every other day to ensure it “didn’t fall over.”
He said one out of 10 tourists and park regulars passing by will scream “tear it down” from their car window, while the other nine pause to take pictures.
“If we didn’t preserve it, it’d be on the ground rotting away. Once it’s up straight, it will be here forever,” he said.
Cement will hold the tree in place and metal rods will line the inside of the tree, Whitehead said.
About $65,000 worth of materials and labour were donated by various companies including Oceans Cement and Con-Tech Systems.
Another $55,000 was raised by the society. They have to raise more than $30,000 in cash, said MacDonald.
To donate, visit www.savethehollowtree.com.
http://www.theprovince.com/Stanley+Park+Hollow+Tree+gets/1678673/story.html