WICKER PARK — A tree in the neighborhood's namesake park, believed to be about 80 years old, was removed Thursday because the Catalpa posed a safety hazard, officials said.
The tree towered over the dog-friendly area inside the park.
"The branches were cracking, you could hear them. Not safe," said Israel Garcia, a Bureau of Forestry worker who was part of a small crew tasked with removing the tree from its home inside of a gravel pit that had been built around the tree's roots.
"It is sad," acknowledged Garcia.
Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, a Chicago Park District spokeswoman, said that the catalpa tree was hollow and split down the middle, posing a safety hazard for users of the park's dog-friendly enclosure.
Another tree, an approximately 100-year-old ash tree also in the park, though located just outside of the dog park area, will be removed too, Maxey-Faulkner said.
Both of the trees will be replaced with new trees, she said.
The ash tree is infected with emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle species that has caused the destruction of over a million ash trees, including several hundred in Humboldt Park.
Early Friday, Brian Johnson and his dog, Ocho, were checking out what was left of the Catalpa tree, namely its stump.
"Ocho, what used to be here?" Johnson prodded, pointing at the trunk, but the dog was showing more interest in a dirty tennis ball nearby than the trunk.
While encouraged that the tree would be replaced, Johnson said "it's not the same."
"You are not going to be able to get that back," Johnson said of the now gone tree.
The dog park's tree, before and after.
Crews begin to remove a Catalpa tree that was posing a safety hazard. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
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