The trees of tornado-ravaged Arlington Woods are getting a new life

In a lumberyard in Manotick,the remains of a century-old forest are being transformed into materials that will one day build a brighter future for the community where they once stood.

It took less than90 secondslast Septemberfor a tornado to reduce the lushly woodedneighbourhood of Arlington Woods toa sceneof devastation.

• In Arlington Woods, tornado cleanup begins amid 'ripped apart' buildings

• 'It's like a personal injury': Tornado takes emotional toll on Ottawa neighbourhood

Winds approaching 265 km/h tore many of the community's toweringwhite pines from the ground, snapping them in two and sending them crashing into homes.

'Turned into a lumber mill'

Sean Devine, president of the Trend-Arlington Community Assocation, said residents were still in shock when they began the monumental job of cleaningup.

Then,the arrival of logging trucks added to the trauma.

"Our community was turned into a lumber mill," saidDevine. "You saw trucks putting these 100-foot-long logs on flat beds and taking them away."

Devine still isn't sure where that first wave of fallen treesended up. The community acted quickly to save what was left,in the hopes of using the wood for future projects that would benefit the area.

Arlington Woods trees destroyed in tornado to be used in memorial

6 years ago

Duration 1:49

Sean Devine and Rob Onley, president and vice-president of the Trend-Arlington Community Assocation, say a memorial will serve as a reminder of how the community came together to recover after the storm.

Concerns about rot

The community association thenreached out to the City of Ottawa, and the forestry department agreed tostorethe logs in a lot in Ottawa's west end.

But when Tim Priddle,co-owner of Manotick lumber store and mill The WoodSource,heard about the arrangement, he worried the wood would rot before it was used.

"Wood has to be sawn very quickly.," said Priddle, "It can't be left out over the summer, otherwise worms and mold will ruin it."

After contacting the community association,Priddle arrangedfor the logs to be delivered to his lumber yard, where it's now beingmilled into construction boards that can be stored until the community decides what to do with them.

The costs arecovered by the city and the community association.

How the fallen trees from Arlington Woods are transformed

6 years ago

Duration 0:58

Tim Priddle, co-owner of the WoodSource, explains how the trees that used to stand in Arlington Woods are being turned into lumber for a future memorial project.

Pair of projects

So far, two projectshave been earmarked for the harvested trees: improvements to thecommunity centre and a memorial to the tornado and its aftermath.

Designs are yet to be drawn up, but the association hopes the memorial will serveas both a tangible mementoofacherished forestand an acknowledgment of the community spirit that grew out of the traumatic event.

"I think that it's it's critical that not only the memory of the event of the tornado itself [is preserved], but the memory of of the community coming together," said community asociationmemberRobert Onley.

"[It can be] a reminder to future generations of what a real community does for each other."