Mayor’s Musings: The Memorial Park Redwood Tree

Written by: Newberg Mayor Bill Rosacker

In the Mayor’s Musings, I am expressing only my opinion. I am not speaking on behalf of the city, the city staff, or the city council.

In this edition of the Mayor’s Musings, I will discuss the Coastal Redwood/Giant Sequoia (Sequoia sempervirens) tree that has been growing in the city-owned Memorial Park since WWII.

I grew up in Newberg in the 1960s. My brother and I were Cub Scouts; my sister was a Brownie. The building in Memorial Park was the Scout House, and the park was conveniently located near my grade school (St. Peter’s), Edwards Grade School, and Renne Junior High. What is now Chehalem Cultural Center was still Central Grade School.

Memorial Park was the epicenter of a boy’s social life. It was the location of the Berrian Festival (now the Old Fashioned Festival) and all of the other celebrations that a young person was involved in. Kids went to Dairy Queen, which was walk-up only, for a Coney Island dog and a Dilly bar. Haskell’s was the place to go for ice cream; licorice was one of my favorites. The Arctic Circle and A&W Drive-in were where we went for fast food. Our swimming pool was outdoors at the corner of River and Third Streets.

Memorial Park was established sometime around WWII, with Douglas Fir trees and one lone Giant Sequoia planted. I have a picture of the park in its early days given to me by Pat Haight. The fir trees appear to be 6-8 inches in diameter, and the Redwood was small enough during my boyhood to climb and hide among its branches, which I often did. The centerpiece of Memorial Park was the monument built to honor Newberg’s fallen soldiers.

Roughly twenty years ago, our city’s Public Works department began to deal with the roots of the Redwood tree. Redwoods have shallow roots, and mature Redwoods’ roots extend more than 100 feet from the trunk. The roots of the tree were growing into the manhole. They dug it up, fixed the pipe, and replaced the manhole with a modern concrete vault with root barriers. Russ Thomas, Public Works Director, remembers that they thought it would fix the problem permanently.

Of course, it is now apparent that root barriers were not a permanent solution. The roots have pushed the vault to the point that one of the pipes is no longer connected to it. The vault must be repaired again, and the roots have also infiltrated the 14-inch storm main. A restricted storm main during a rainstorm would result in water backing up into the basements of downtown buildings — City Hall, Social Goods, a bank, the pet shop, etc.; and the city would be liable for any damage because we knew about it but didn’t fix it.

Blaine Street has other main lines on the west side and railroad tracks in the middle; there is simply no room to move the pipe over. Even if the pipe could be moved, the city would have to cut many roots, so we hired an arborist to advise us.

The arborist report finds a healthy Sequoia about 70 years old. He was asked how the tree would fare if the roots were cut to fix the 14-inch mainline. He indicated that the tree is not likely to remain healthy and would present a danger to the public within five years.

Our choices come down to these:

1. Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to move the mainline 2-3 feet west, which would solve the flooding issue for several years; and we can hope the arborist is wrong about the tree becoming unhealthy and dangerous. But even if the tree survives 20 more years, the roots would infiltrate the mainline again.
2. Remove the tree and fix the mainline, street, and sidewalk permanently.

In my lifetime, there have been many changes in Newberg. The pool closing is probably the one that affected me the most; my kids had to go to Carlton to swim in an outdoor pool. Renne Junior High holds even more memories because I saw it daily for eight years. I’m nostalgic about its open courtyard and the auditorium even today. When big things are replaced in our lives, at the time it feels like there will be a hole inside that will never go away. But that isn’t true. Time has a way of filling the holes.

Like many others, I will miss the big tree and remember it fondly, which is why the city will make good use of the lumber from the tree. I will strongly support using the lumber for a purpose that will honor the tree and the citizens of Newberg.

Let’s get some licorice ice cream and…

Move forward together.

– Mayor Bill Rosacker

Editor’s Note: This column, “Mayor’s Musings,” is written by Newberg’s Mayor who contributes their ideas and thoughts to the column which can help provide perspective or insight into current happenings around City Hall. This is an opinion piece written by Newberg’s mayor, edited only for grammar, spelling, and clarity if required, by Newsberg. Any opinions stated within the post are those of the Mayor alone, and not shared by Newsberg. This column intends to support the public flow of information between Newberg’s government and its citizens.