Damaged landmark may become sculpture
The damage done by a recent windstorm has proved to be the undoing of the heritage maple at the front of the Salvations Army’s Bethany Hope Centre at 1140 Wellington.
According to Linda Hoad of the Hintonburg Community Association, the wind damage caused by a recent windstorm triggered an inspection by a City of Ottawa arborist, who discovered interior rot in the large branches and advised the Centre that the tree should be removed.
Hoad says the tree has stood over the street since the 1920s and was on the list of Hintonburg-nominated trees to the City’s Heritage Tree program.
However, what is left of the huge old trunk may yet be spared the wood chipper. Annie Hillis of the West Wellington Business Improvement Area says she is working to see if the remainder of the tree can be turned into a large sculpture.
“If the core is solid enough to stay up, we hope to rally the community – including the WWBIA – to raise money for an artist’s fee and competition”
Such sculptures are common in other Canadian cites; in fact one saw manufacturer even sponsors an exhibition of them in London, Ontario.
I hope that the BIA will be consulting with an arborist before moving forward with these plans. My understanding is that a dead tree trunk left in place such as this invites carpenter ants, which can then move into nearby buildings and weaken their structure.
Samantha – that may be the case. I think that there must be ways to preserve the trunk from pests while allowing for the sculpture.
I’ve just come back from a quick trip to Truro, Nova Scotia where they have carved statues of major personas as they relate to the city. These statues stand on the same site as to the stately elms that had stood there before. Why not do the same thing here.
RIP tree stump… seeing the stump gone and with it the opportunity to create a remarkable landmark sculpture leaves me as sad as the day the branches blew down.
Just back from working in Kiev Ukraine. Art and sculpture abound in that city. Damaged trees are carved into the most inspiring sculptures. Of course the wood is treated as would any outdoor piece of art would be…no sign of rot or insect damage there. How wonderful to see the old growth trees uses and not just cut up for firewood.