When an elm tree in Byron Linear Park was cut down in November 2019 to make way for LRT extension construction, residents were devastated.
The elm was no ordinary tree: it was over a hundred years old, beautiful with branches that stretched and hung with layers of thick green leaves providing a large canopy to the surrounding community.
The tree was cut down
along with dozens of others in Ottawa’s West end
as construction advanced on the line and the western part of Byron Linear Park
was dug up in the excavation
.
But one community member had found a way to preserve part of the tree, sections referred to as a “cookie.”
Now, the pieces will be brought back to life for the community, with one set to be made into a coffee table for the Carlingwood branch of the Ottawa Public Library thanks to the efforts of logger and enterprising constituent Tom Marcantonio.
“I was really upset because the LRT has removed somewhere between 600 to 800 trees from our neighborhood,” Marcantonio said. “The elm was probably the biggest.”
Marcantonio knew the very measurements of the elm tree: 33 inches at the base in diameter, and he counted about 133 rings upon it. When his friend told him it was being cut down, he decided to see what could be done to save the wood.
“I’m a logger and a woodworker myself so I have a deep appreciation and respect for all trees,” Marcantonio said. “I went over and, you know, I talked to the loggers and said, ‘Can you cut me a couple of those slices there?’ And they did.”
Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh passed a motion at city council on April 8 to convert a second section of the fallen elm tree dubbed the “Mother Elm” into a piece of furniture for shared community use.
“This tree, the elm tree, was beloved because it was one of the biggest trees,” Kavanagh said. “This is a tree that was well-established and had been through a lot and had to be taken out. So it was a piece of history.”
Kavanagh said they approached the city’s archives office to figure out what to do with the first piece and how to commemorate it in the community. Initially, Marcantonio and the community’s idea was to integrate the piece directly into the
LRT station being constructed in the area
, New Orchard.
“But that was extremely complicated. It wasn’t the right place. So, the archives actually came up with the idea of making it into a coffee table and putting it in the Carlingwood library,” Kavanagh said. “So it’s a public place, and people will be able to visit the library and see it.”
Last week’s motion, however, was for the second piece of the elm as the first was fully covered by the archives office.
“The motion was to ensure we have the second one. We haven’t really figured out exactly where we’re going to put it,” Kavanagh said. “Maybe we’ll partner it with the other one. But it will be in a public place so that people can enjoy it.
Obviously, you want someplace quiet because you want to preserve it. But it’s special.”
But the considerate initiative comes in light of years of tree cutting and environmental disruptions to the West end community. In late 2024, Richmond Road business owners and residents went to city council,
frustrated about how construction on the cut-and-cover tunnel
from Sherbourne Road to Lincoln Fields had affected the community.
Kavanagh said she believes they are the most affected by LRT construction in the city.
“It’s been devastating. It’s not just the loss of trees, it’s the noise and detours and mess,” Kavanagh said. “It’s been very hard on the residents.”
Construction on the line in the East end is being built along the highway, but as Kavanagh pointed out, in the West the project is “right through communities.”
“Now, in the end, that’s good for having something at your doorstep. To have the train system close to communities is great. We don’t need bridges or anything to walk to the train station,” Kavanagh said. “But this part is the painful part because it’s all the construction going on. Over top of that is the fact that they’re also replacing infrastructure. So there’s a lot of tearing up [of roads] right now [too].”
Marcantonio also called the loss of green space in the community devastating.
“We have so little green space in our community,” Marcantonio said. “We had all this green space with trees, mature trees. They’re all gone now, and it’s been a construction site for eight years. People’s houses rattle when the dynamite has [gone off], there’s noise all night, roads blocked. It’s a horrible thing for people who live here.”
Marcantonio said he is also concerned that while construction companies working on the LRT are obliged to replant trees, they aren’t necessarily required to replant them in the same community.
“Our community takes the brunt,” Marcantonio said. “Communities all along the lines of every LRT station have taken the brunt of the problem. But we don’t have a big park we can go to without crossing a major road. Kids have no place to throw a frisbee or kick a soccer ball.”
Kavanagh said she is pushing redevelopment companies to plant more trees in the area, along with promoting city initiatives for tree planting. As of last September, Ottawa was
short of its long-term goals for tree planting.
“Our parks, of course, we’ll make sure we have lots of trees there. That’s being looked after. Britannia gets a lot of tree damage because of wind, because it faces directly north from the water,” Kavanagh said. “So you’ve got to be on top of it. You can’t just plant a tree and leave it. You have to keep monitoring because damage can happen as well.”
Kavanagh herself recalled losing an ash tree in front of her house to disease.
“It’s funny because I kept part of a cookie from that tree, but it fell apart because it was so diseased. So I’ve only got pieces of that cookie because I did the same thing,” Kavanagh said. “We lose trees to diseases. That’s actually important when they’re planting new trees, they pick a variety of hardy trees, but that are native to the area so that we don’t lose trees as fast.
And we have a good representation of what should be here in this area.”
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