It’s been more than a month since a crab apple tree was cut down in front of the Adriance Memorial Library on Market Street in what library director Tom Lawrence characterized as a “communication mix-up.” Now, library officials are unsure of whether the tree will be replaced, but they’ve taken steps to explore their options.
According to the City of Poughkeepsie Planning Board, Lawrence intended to have some trees removed from the front of the building, but the board recommended that he hire an arborist to see if the trees could be trimmed. He was supposed to return to the planning board with a revised plan, but before he did, a tree was accidentally cut down. The date was May 17, a Saturday, and according to construction manager Chris Gent, the removal of the tree was originally included in the bid package.
Lawrence said the library’s planning committee has received a proposal from Hudson and Pacific Design, a landscape architecture firm from Saugerties, who was recommended by the library’s historic architecture consultant. Hudson and Pacific Design has worked with clients as local as Ulster, Dutchess and Putnam counties, and as distant as California and the Czech Republic.
The library planning committee is expected to review the proposal at an upcoming meeting, and forward it to the Board of Directors in time for consideration at its July meeting.
“It’s an interesting story: the tree was supposed to be saved and it disappeared,” said Planning Board Chairman Graham Jones. “We were not happy with some of the library’s proposals. We were concerned with the look of the building – the original design was not appealing to the planning board as a group.”
According to Jones, two main subjects reviewed by the planning board are aesthetics and safety.
“Our job is to serve the needs of the community, not the applicant,” said Jones.
Lawrence said that the architect will look at the building and its historic nature, while taking into account the surrounding streetscape and it’s contemporary environment.
“I personally feel that’s what the architecture calls for – that the building not be masked by trees,” said Lawrence.
The library, which is currently under construction, has temporarily relocated to its 18 Bancroft Rd. headquarters, and won’t be reoccupied until September 2009.
“I wouldn’t anticipate going back to the planning board until the fall at the earliest, or maybe the winter months, in anticipation of doing some landscaping in spring or summer,” said Lawrence.