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December 3, 2002

Purdue to transplant trees away from construction site

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University gave a Texas contractor the green light to save four large trees this week by removing them from the construction site of a dining court being built between Cary Quadrangle and Owen Hall.

John D. Collier, Purdue's landscape architect, said the university developed a tree protection and removal plan that calls for transplanting 23 trees, removing another 20 trees and protecting 10 trees with fencing at the site of the Stadium Avenue Dining Court project.

"The transplanting will begin on Wednesday (12/4) and should be completed by the weekend," Collier said.

National Shade of Houston, Texas, will move four large trees – three sugar maples and one green ash for $26,000. University crews already have been transplanting 19 other trees to various locations around residence halls.

"It's not going out on a limb to say that no one wants to see majestic trees cut down indiscriminately," Collier said. "We wanted to save as many trees as we could. Each of these four trees is nearly 20 years old. Their value to the landscape is worth the effort."

Collier said a tree spade that the company uses to remove and transplant large trees should not significantly affect traffic flow along Stadium Drive, Intramural Drive and part of Third Street.

"Their vehicle is 14 feet wide. It may impede traffic momentarily as it moves down the streets, but it shouldn't necessitate closing any street," Collier said.

Three of the large trees will be transplanted on the south and the east side of the Recreational Sports Center. The other tree will be transplanted on the south side of Earhart Hall.

Most of the trees that need to be cut down are in poor condition, Collier said.

Collier said Kreager Brothers Excavating of Fort Wayne, a contractor for the dining court project, will remove the 20 trees that can't be saved.

Unrelated to the dining court project, four large trees on the Discovery Park site also will be moved to locations in the vicinity of the residence halls, Collier said.

Construction of the freestanding dining court between the two residence halls is planned to begin in spring 2003 with anticipated completion in fall 2004. The project is part of a $48 million, six-year plan to upgrade student dining, which was approved by the Purdue Board of Trustees in September 2000. The plan, the most extensive overhaul to date of Purdue's dining facilities, will create five state-of-the-art dining facilities and six retail operations across campus.

Writer: Grant Flora, (765) 494-2073, gflora@purdue.edu

Source: John Collier, landscape architect, (765) 494-6882, jdcollier@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu


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