Trees down at Travers Park

SANDPOINT — Twenty trees at Travers Park officially came down Friday morning as crews worked to remove the trees and chip them.

The downing of the trees marks one of the first steps in the construction of the new James E. Russell Sports Complex, which is expected to house four tennis and 16 pickleball courts for the public.

“Things have been going pretty well here today,” said one of the workers from Northwest Tree Care LLC, who was hired for the project. “It’s sad seeing people unhappy. We’re just out here doing our jobs and we don’t want anybody to be upset or unhappy about us doing what we were hired to do.”

After multiple weeks of almost daily protests at the park, including some residents chaining themselves to the trees, the community’s efforts to save the trees fell short and the planned project — as of Friday — is still set to continue.

The Northwest Tree Care LLC employee said that while it is sad to see the trees being cut down, the wood will not go to waste and as much of it as possible will be repurposed. The bigger tree chunks will even end up back at Travers Park after a little makeover.

“Any wood from the trees that’s big enough is going to be turned into furniture for the new building,” he said. “So it’ll all be repurposed and it’s not going to waste.”

Twenty trees came down at Travers Park Friday.

 In addition to the loss of the trees, many have claimed that there are other reasons the city is in the wrong. Some protesters considered the trees memorial pieces because family members of the Travers are buried near them. Others said they were misled about the health of the trees and also should have been offered an opportunity to vote on how the project moves forward. 

Some residents have started a GoFundMe page in an attempt to raise money for an injunction against the city, which if granted, would halt the city’s efforts to build the complex in the park.

“All funds raised will go toward protecting this beautiful public park, family memorials and Sandpoint's history,” said Jeff Platt, a GoFundMe employee. “All donations will be returned if it proves they are unneeded.”

The future for trees is not over at Travers Park, however. For each tree cut down Friday, the city promised to plant three new trees in the park. This way, they said the park is not expected to lose its natural beauty, even if it does look different at this time next year.