Pine trees located on the site of the future home of Newhouse III were removed Tuesday morning to make room for the new building.

Lynn Vanderhoek, assistant dean for advancement at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said she regrets the pine trees’ removal, but commends the work of the construction workers for attempting to save the trees.

‘They were simply too big, with root structures that extend literally dozens of feet in each direction,’ she said in an e-mail.

However, Vanderhoek said, both the J.D. Taylor Construction Company and representatives with the building committee at Newhouse conducted a thorough investigation into moving the pine trees.

One of the problems the construction workers ran into was the location of the pine trees on a hill. With their placement, there would not have been a feasible way to securely position a backhoe, she said.

The cost of digging up the trees was also a factor.

‘It would have been more expensive to relocate the trees instead of getting new ones,’ said Susan Nash, director of administration at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Vanderhoek was also concerned whether the pine trees would have even survived the transplant. She said if the trees were removed, their complicated root structure below the ground would have decreased their likelihood of survival.

Even with the loss, Vanderhoek remains optimistic as to the trees’ final outcome.

‘I am pretty sure I saw the guys cutting the tops of them off to use as Christmas trees, and they will become mulch,’ she said. ‘So back to the earth they go, perhaps to serve as fertilizer for the trees that will surround Newhouse III.’

Published on November 16, 2005 at 12:00 pm