Replacing Courthouse trees: Mayor asks, ‘Why wait?’
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
The City of Darlington’s proposal to work with the county in replacing the Bradford pear trees surrounding the Courthouse “won’t get done” if it’s delayed, one city official said last week. “Why wait? Why wait another year?” Mayor Curtis Boyd asked. “ … If we don’t go ahead and plant the trees now, in January and February, it will be another year.” “It won’t get planted (if we wait),” added city planner Lisa Bailey. “It won’t get done. Let’s be honest.” Boyd and Bailey’s comments came at an informal Dec. 20 discussion at City Hall about the Courthouse’s treescape. Officials had intended to hold a joint session of the city’s Tree Board and Beautification Board, but that failed to materialize because neither board had enough members present for a quorum. Instead, Boyd, Bailey, County Council member Angie Stone Godbold and others attending engaged in a loose question-and-answer talk about the city’s plan to spend a $5,000 Duke Energy beautification grant to buy new trees to place around the Courthouse, with the county spending a roughly equal amount to have the old trees removed. County Council hasn’t considered the plan yet; the council has not met again since the city broached the plan at a Dec. 7 meeting. “It bothers me (for people) to say that we have rushed, because we didn’t rush,” Boyd said. “We have been working on what to do about the Bradford pears since 2012,” said Bailey. “The Tree Board started on Cashua Street and removed probably a dozen and replaced (them). This is just another step in that process. … We were already, at the Tree Board, talking about this in 2019.” Godbold said she couldn’t speak for all of County Council. She agreed that “the Bradford pears need to come down.” But she said it should all be done as part of a larger, coordinated plan. The councilwoman said there should be “some consistency and continuity” between the existing Courthouse and the new judicial center being built nearby off North Main Street. “I think they should match. They’re the two buildings the county maintains downtown.” Bailey said later in the discussion: “Those two buildings are nothing architecturally alike. They don’t match. And they don’t need to match. Look at downtown – how many buildings we have (with) different architecture.” Godbold said, “In taking these trees out right now, that is going to create more problems. … It’s not going to be just ‘pull them out and put new ones in.’ It’s going to do some damage to what’s there.” She added: “I think we need to open (the planning) up somewhat. I don’t think that just because trees are around the perimeter now that trees have to go back around the perimeter.”