A Sorrow Farewell to the Oak Tree at SLO Repertory Theatre
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - Community members are voicing disappointment that a large oak tree has been declared unsalvageable for San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre’s development project.
It was a decision that was made slowly and reluctantly from all parties.
It started as long ago as the early 1990s, with direction from SLO City Council to SLO Repertory Theatre to pursue construction of a new state-of-the-art facility downtown, in the center of what is now dubbed the Cultural Arts District.
From the very beginning per City Council’s direction and upon their own principles, directors of SLO Rep have prioritized the preservation of a nearly 100-year-old oak tree.
The towering oak has sentimental value to the community, and San Luis Obispo holds Tree City USA designation, which makes urban forestry a top priority when approving projects.
SLO Rep’s directors say the oak tree is one of the main reasons they haven’t planned their groundbreaking, as they’ve been making every effort to incorporate the tree into the new building’s design.
When the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure was completed, SLO Rep and the City hired separate arborists to study the tree’s health, who determined that the root structure extends much further than anticipated and has already been damaged.
All alternatives were considered including leaving the tree, but the theater’s developers say if it ended up needing to be removed later, the building and its foundation would be compromised.
So the City Council was left with the decision of saving the tree or building the new theater.
In early February, a 4-1 vote yielded the decision to allow SLO Rep to remove the tree and build the theater.
City leaders agree all parties have done everything they could to try to save the tree over the years of the project's development, and this decision comes with a heavy heart.
Community members are also recovering from shock and dismay that the outcome has come to this after so much preservation effort.
Directors at SLO Rep have sent us the following statement:
“SLO REP understands and shares the community's affection for this beautiful oak tree. Our new theatre was designed to incorporate and preserve the tree as a prominent feature of the site. After learning last summer that the tree had already sustained significant damage to its critical root structure, SLO REP worked closely with the City, independent arborists, and our project team to explore every feasible option for its preservation. We were genuinely saddened to learn that there is virtually no way to adapt the project and ensure the tree's survival during construction. Following extensive review, the City Council agreed that SLO REP had made every reasonable effort to preserve the tree and they approved its removal. This is not the outcome we had hoped for, and we share the community's disappointment at this loss.”
The theater company’s directors say they do not yet have any official dates planned for either the tree’s removal nor the groundbreaking for the new building.
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