Children's Hospital received a letter of kudos from the City's Urban Forestry Commission Chair, Tom Early, regarding their tree preservation efforts during the expansion of the Hospital.
The Hospital retained many plantings and very large trees from the former Laurelon Terrace Condominium site, which was demolished in 2011 to make way for the current Building Hope, also knows as Forest A, and the and upcoming construction of Building Care, also known as Forest B, to be constructed over the next two years, beginning this summer.
In 2012, the Laurelhurst Blog posted about seven trees that were removed from the former Laurelon site where they stood for many decades, and were re-planted on the then construction site.
Jeff Hughes, Grounds Manager at Children's Hospital, told the Blog Staff, at the time, that the trees moved were Scarlet Oaks (Quercus rubra), Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) and Japanese maples. The Oaks and Sweet gum were placed adjacent to what is the main entry of Forest A.
As shown in the pictures below, and more here, the trees, three of which were quite large and weighing about 130,000 pounds each, were moved onto a trailer by a crane from their storage site while waiting for exterior work to be done, that then took them to their new permanent location for re-planting.
Two hundred and sixty four trees (evergreen and deciduous) were salvaged from the previous Laurelon site during demolition to be replanted again in the future. Also salvaged were 190 roses, 210 ferns, 150 perennials and a variety of ground covers.
The City's Urban Forestry Commission letter stated:
Mayor Tim Burgess, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, and Councilmember Rob Johnson Seattle City Hall 600 4th Ave. Seattle, WA 98124
RE: Seattle Children’s Hospital tree preservation
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers Bagshaw and Johnson,
The Urban Forestry Commission wants to commend Seattle Children’s Hospital on how they approach their development as an example of how this work can be done by other major institutions.
Seattle Children’s presented their tree protection, retention, and removal plans to the Commission on September 6, 2017. The design and construction team exhibited ingenuity, diligence, and innovation to exceed the letter and intent of the tree protection ordinance during the multi-phase expansion of the hospital. This included atypical demolition.
Specifically, the retention of building foundations to maintain the stability of existing trees, successfully moving mature trees (see photos on the next page), maintaining a campus of rich and varied horticultural value, and replanting a large number of trees. All of these efforts lead to a landscape design for a major institution master plan (MIMP) which is exceptional for its vision and leadership; it also exhibits the principles of the Urban Forest Stewardship Plan.
The efforts, consideration, and dedication of Seattle Children’s Hospital to maintain and construct their landscape for healing and neighborhood enjoyment should be applauded as an example for other MIMP tree preservation and protection efforts.
2021- Scarlet Tree in transport
Scarlet Oak in place
(photos provided by Children's Hospital)
No comments:
Post a Comment