Elms at River Landing

A developer, Lake Placid Group of companies has made a proposal to build an office/condo/hotel complex at the site of River Landing Phase 1. The Meewasin board has approved the proposal but asked Meewasin staff to research the possibilities of repurposing the salvaged wood from the American elm trees Construction on the site means the elms must be cut down.

After well over a month of exploration into the options, it appears we cannot recycle the elm wood. In the attempt to salvage the elms, Meewasin consulted with the city’s urban forester on the following options: debarking and milling on-site, debarking on-site for transportation and milling at an out-of-town mill, and debarking on-site for transportation and storage at Meewasin maintenance yards. Each option has been deemed too risky as the lumber can release pheromones attractive to beetles known to cause Dutch Elm Disease. A special pit at the landfill for burial of the elms (and later debarking) was also explored but space is not available. The developer had been willing to pay for the salvage, on-site debarking, and transportation (in town). After lengthy discussions with the city forester, we just could not make any solution work. We expect the trees will be cut down in late spring and the trees disposed of at the landfill according to proper procedure.

On the positive side, Meewasin is proceeding with recycling the pines on the River Landing site and some trees to be removed at the University because of construction at Place Riel. Because these are not elms, the process is much easier. In addition, the River Landing developer is planning to replace the elm trees with 120 deciduous and 25 conifers trees in 500 square meters of planting beds that will include shrubs, vines and groundcover. The company also has plans to plant up to 300 trees outside the city when the project is complete.