Tree Comes Down at Washington School
A large maple tree that stood on the northwest corner of the driveway entrance at Washington Primary School for the past fifty years has been cut down after school officials grew worried that it posed a safety hazard.
The tree, which shaded two sidewalks and sent an umbrella of branches and leaves over a portion of the driveway, was probably planted within a few years of the school’s opening in 1954. Classes were known to sit underneath it during warm weather and read or engage in other educational activities with teachers.
School officials have been keeping an eye on the tree in recent months after noticing several dead branches and limbs. After a close inspection, the district brought in LaMay’s Tree Service of Depot Road, Huntington Station, to remove it. The district paid $880 to have the tree cut down and carted away and the stump ground out.
“When they cut into the tree, they discovered the entire middle of it was hollow,” said Paul Rispoli, district director of facilities. “It had been eaten out by carpenter ants.” The tree was removed while school was closed for the Memorial Day weekend recess.
When Washington was constructed during the “Baby Boom” years, it was surrounded mainly by open fields and farmland. To the west sat a large racetrack that drew weekend crowds. Dozens of horses were housed there. Four years after the school opened, a new wing was constructed to accommodate additional students. Today the wing is used by third grade classes, and also features the library, an art/music room, and rooms for special classes, math, reading, speech therapy, the school psychologist and social worker.
“Keeping students, staff, parents and other visitors safe is of paramount concern,” Superintendent John J. Finello said. “The tree was certainly beautiful and the area looks bare without it, but it posed risk we couldn’t afford to take.”
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