Construction plans threaten 100 year old elm. Leben McCormick, of Rainbow Tree, has worked with David McCurdy, (1731) for over 20 years to protect and nurture this heritage elm, that borders 1721 Princeton. When McCormick read the Strib article about the tear down, he got in his car and drove right over. I care about the house, said McCormick. But I really love this tree. Apparently 40% of the root system is located in 1721s yard. Just the trucks driving over it, will irreparably damage the root system. McCormick said. More than that, the foundation of one of the two 4000 square foot homes proposed by contractor, David Hovda, will come within 8 to 10 feet of the tree. There is something called the structural root plate that circles the trunk, McCormick said. If the foundation is built that close to the trunk and cuts into the root plate, the tree will be physically destabilized and could fall on Dave McCurdys home. There are only 400 boulevard elms left, according to McCormick, when once there were 400,000, and a smattering of surviving elms privately owned. McCurdys elm played a starring role, in Ali Selims (Sweetland) short film Emperor of the Air, in 1996. The story of two neighbors fighting over the survival of a tree. It really is a special tree, said McCormick. The branches almost touch the ground in the Wests (1721 Princeton), all that would be cut away. Dave McCurdy, a retired Macalester professor, can barely speak about it. We have treated against Dutch elm disease for years, said McCurdy. It breaks my heart, just really breaks my heart. As in Emperor of the Air, this heritage elm is once again at the center of a neighborhood controversy and fighting for its life. Only this is not fiction, this is for real. We so hope Sherelyn Ogden will accept Macalesters buy back offer, saving 1721 and a beloved old tree.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:37:43 +0000
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