PALMER SQUARE — The emerald ash borer recently claimed a few trees in Palmer Square Park — and the city says it had no choice but to also remove nearby healthy trees the community planted, leaving some residents heartbroken.
At the end of last month, crews set out to remove three trees infected by the emerald ash borer on the parkway.
During the removal process, three healthy trees — one crab apple tree and two saplings — were uprooted because of their close proximity to the dead trees, according to Sara McGann, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation Forestry Bureau.
"While [the department] maintains every effort to avoid damage to surrounding trees, sometimes it is unavoidable due to plantings too close to the dead trees," McGann said in a prepared statement.
McGann said one of the saplings appeared to be salvageable, but the other two did not.
"It just breaks my heart because the community planted those," said resident Steve Heir, a longtime Palmer Square resident who is also the president of the Homeowners Association of Palmer Square
Heir said homeowners have planted more than 80 percent of the trees in the park since 1980.
"The green space is what this community is built around. Having this space, it's calming for the neighborhood. I think it's one of the reasons that Logan Square has become such a magnet for people is this beautiful green ribbon that runs through our community with Palmer Square being the centerpiece."
The ash borer is smaller than a penny but has doomed hundreds of trees across the Northwest Side by eating them from the inside out, leaving the trees brittle and unsteady.
The department is poised to plant more than 2,500 trees this year, which is in addition to the plantings other city agencies will do across the city.
