ATHABASCA — Dendrophiles — or tree lovers — of Athabasca may notice the absence of the well-established maple trees along the Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives building this spring as town staff opted to remove them for safety reasons.
Parks foreman Warren Zyla reported rotting bases and breakage and cracks in many of the tree limbs south of the library in his May report to Athabasca town councillors, noting the deterioration of the trees poses a risk to the library.
“Out with the old, in with the new,” Public Works foreman Graeme Douglas told councillors during their May 6 meeting.
Three maples and one elm tree along 47a Avenue were removed late last week, with stump and root grinding work to come. Zyla said he plans on filling space with new trees better suited to the area.
“There’s one called the Parkland Pillar Birch, and what it is is a columnar birch tree, so they’ll be really nice in fall. They’re kind of narrow trees, so in the future you don’t have to worry about branches falling on the library.”
