Developers listened when advocates asked that this oak tree not only be saved, but protected as new housing is built in New Bohemia in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
By Cindy Hadish/Homegrown Iowan
As trees are removed at a fast pace to make way for development along Edgewood Road in northeast Cedar Rapids, a different approach is being taken in one of the city’s core neighborhoods.
A majestic pin oak, estimated to be at least a century old, has an added source of protection as new housing is built nearby in the New Bohemia district.
Landscape architect Ruth Fox said project developer Don Barrigar of Acme Electric agreed to install chain link fencing around the tree as 3rd Ward Development LLC builds six row houses and four mixed-use units along Second Avenue SE.
Chain-link fencing protects this tree, in southeast Cedar Rapids, from the impacts of construction. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
“Don and his contractor, Mike Barrigar, have been so supportive of this effort,” Fox said. “On a relatively shallow property (front to back) they have had to work from the ends and the front for the most part. It is indeed a solid commitment.”
Fox said she has tried for years to work with other developers to even maintain wood fencing around trees to the drip line.
She invariably has had to back down and accept other fencing types just around the trunk, “so this is a dream come true for me,” Fox said. “No compacting the soil with machinery, no one parking under it and no storage.”
The Kurik House, built at the time that the oak tree was likely planted, was moved in August to the corner of Second Street and 11th Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
An arborist will selectively trim branches on Saturday. Country Landscapes also has been hired to perform other tasks in the next couple of weeks, Fox said.
The oak was likely planted around the same time that the historic Kurik House was built. The house was among many flooded in 2008, but one of few saved in the neighborhood.
As part of the project, 3rd Ward Development moved the house in August 2014 to the corner of Second Street and 11th Avenue SE.
Fox, who also is a research expert on historical projects, noted that the home was built in 1910 for Wesley and Elizabeth Kurik. According to research she conducted in her role in Ruth Fox Landscape Architecture + Planning, the Kurik family lived in the house, on the east side of the Cedar River, and owned a saloon at 57 16th Ave., on the west side in
what would become Czech Village.
The Kurik home was built on a 60-foot-wide property at a time when most residential lots in the neighborhood were only 30 feet wide, the report notes. The neighborhood was originally home to Czech and Slovak immigrants just south of the central downtown district.
The pin oak can be seen to the right of the Kurik House in spring 2014, before the historic home was moved. Built in 1910, the house was among many flooded in 2008, but one of few saved in the New Bohemia district. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
What a great thing ! My hat is off to both the Barrigars for sticking to their guns and eating the extra expense this has caused them to preserve this magnificent tree. A
great “old” addition to this booming neighborhood.
I was sickened when others took down all the mature trees in Nov. 2014 for the new Berthel Fisher building going up on the southeast corner of 42nd Street NE and Edgewood Road. And after High Development raped Edgewood Road of trees at Glass Road and Edgewood a few blocks away last year.
It is possible to build and preserve. There needs to be a large enough fine to offset the few dollars saved by developers who rip out some of these old beauties. Replacing 100 year old trees with day old landscaping just doesn’t cut it.
Thank you for your comment. The project at 42nd and Edgewood came up at a City Planning Commission meeting last week, but all of the commission members just kind of shrugged when one of them brought up the trees. It might take a more vocal opposition to that type of clear-cutting for the City Council to pay attention, and pointing out that there are other approaches, like this one in New Bohemia.
the Kurik house was where my great aunt Alma Kurik Marek lived. I believe it was her parents who built the house. Her mother lived there til her death and I know Alma owned house til her death at least in 1986.
Thanks for your comment, Janice. That home certainly has a long history. Glad that it was saved!