Ivoryton Playhouse
103 Main Street
Ivoryton, CT 06442
Contact: Jacqui Hubbard
(860) 767-7318
jhubbard@ivorytonplayhouse.org
Press Release
July 27, 2009
Landmark Ivoryton Tree
Must Come Down
Ivoryton, CT: If trees could only talk, what stories they could tell! And the maple tree that has stood outside the Ivoryton Playhouse for over 110 years would have more to tell than most. The tree has lent its shade to generations of actors who sat underneath it on hot summer days, memorizing lines, taking a much needed nap or just simply enjoying the rustle of a breeze through its branches. It was the hope of the Ivoryton Playhouse Foundation to keep the tree alive until the building’s 100th birthday in 2011 but despite the constant attention and care of Jason Wilcox, a licensed arborist with Wilcox Tree Experts who has tended to the tree and kept it on life support for the last several years, the ravages of time have left it barely alive and dangerously unstable
“We have fought long and hard to keep this tree’ says Playhouse Executive Director Jacqui Hubbard, “but we are now fighting a losing battle and must consider the possible consequence of a heavy storm or strong winds.” The Town of Essex Tree Warden Augie Pampel agrees that the risks now outweigh the benefits of trying to keep the tree alive.
And so, the tree will come down in August and another chapter of the history of Ivoryton closes.
“We do not know the condition of the wood, but we would love to hear from any local furniture makers who could use it and perhaps we will be able to have a bench made to stand outside the theatre so that the tree will remain with us”.
Hubbard says that the Foundation is researching potential replacements and perhaps have a new tree planted in the Spring of 2010 – the Playhouse’s 90th year.