Century-old elm tree on Parliament Hill gets the axe

A century-old American elm tree on Parliament Hillhas been cut down, despitepassionate pleasfor itspreservation.

On Saturday evening, construction fencing surrounded the former site of the five-storey tree, which towered over a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald on the east side of Centre Block.

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Visible in photos dating to the 1920s, the elm treestood in the way of plans for an expanded Parliament Hill visitor centre being built as part of the forthcoming Centre Block renovations.

Memorial planned

"We'd kind of reconciled with the fact that we weren't going to be able to save it," said Paul Johanis, chair of theGreenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital.

The group had been advocating for the tree to be protected during those renovations, but was unable toswayaparliamentary committeethat was tasked earlier this month with deciding the tree's fate.

Johanis said members of the group had been checking theParliament Hill web camera daily, and when they saw construction crews working this morning, they knew the tree's time had come.

"A few of our members actually went down and took some photos," said Johanis. "We're going to put together a memorial for the tree like an obituary, almost."

Legacy could live on

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the department responsible for the Centre Block renovations, had pointed toa 2018 arborist's report thatstated the tree wasin poor condition and was being held together by cables.

Jennifer Garrett, director general for the Centre Blockrehabilitationprogram, said in Februarythe best plan would be to cut down the tree and "re-use the wood for commemorative purposes."

Johanis said he'd been told by PSPC that would indeed happen, with the wood potentially being used for new House of Commons furniture.

Genetic material from the elm was also collected bythe Elm Recovery Centre in Guelph, Ont., and Johanis said they were using it togrow50 saplings saplings that could one day be planted on Parliament Hill, continuing the tree's legacy.

"This tree didn't make it, but it became kind of famous," he said.

"So maybe it'll become a flashpointfor efforts towards saving our urban forest and our mature trees."