BURLINGTON – Advocates for the development of City Hall Park are eager to begin tree cutting in the spring of 2019, but opponents of the plan claim that cutting 48% of the park\u2019s remaining trees will destroy the cooling benefits that a mature leaf canopy provides on hot days. As extreme temperatures become the new normal, this might have been difficult to refute. But Doreen Kraft, who helped originate the park\u2019s redesign, has an answer for those who worry the new park will be too hot without the 21 trees scheduled to be removed in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kraft, Director of Burlington City Arts (BCA) whose gallery abuts the park, has been a fierce defender of the plan that she and landscape architect H. Keith Wagner began envisioning back in 2011. Wagner, who is also the husband of Kraft\u2019s Assistant Director, received the contract for the park\u2019s redesign. \u201cThere will be NO problem with shade after the new design is installed,\u201c Kraft proclaimed at a recent photo retrospective of Wagner\u2019s cement and gravel creations, most of which feature wide paved areas flecked with green accents of shrubs and ornamental grasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou say that shrubs in the park will be \u2018vibrant,\u2019\u201d piped up a senior citizen in the audience, \u201cbut I can\u2019t sit under a shrub on a warm day to cool down.\u201d \u201cNonsense,\u201c Kraft scoffed, \u201cI have the solution: colorful sunshades! Very vibrant, very edgy . . . um, but not edgy in any kind of a threatening or scary way. You know, \u2018safe\u2019 edgy! They\u2019ll be set up when BCA has an event and then tucked away when we\u2019re done,\u201d she explained. \u201cNo one will suffer under a glaring sun at a BCA event, and best of all, they come in all my favorite colors!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut what about when there isn\u2019t an event going on?\u201d persisted the questioner, but attention had already shifted as Burlington Mayor Weinberger entered the room, grinning broadly. \u201cI don\u2019t know if Doreen has mentioned that her sunshade idea is such a hit, we will be implementing it city-wide,\u201d he announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mayor\u2019s office confirmed that Neighborhood Planning Assemblies will be notified of which color sunshades they have been assigned no later than one week after all trees in their respective wards have been cut down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"