Old-Fashioned Horsepower - Felled Ash Trees Will Be Used In Library

Old-fashioned

horsepower

ROBERT CHASE,THE ANN ARBOR NEWS

Teamster Craig Novotney, with the help of his horses Rex and Andy, drags a felled ash tree log from the site of the new northeast branch of the Ann Arbor District Library on Wednesday.The new library will be located at Traverwood Street and Huron Parkway.

Felled ash trees will be used in library

BY MARIANNE RZEPKA

News Staff Reporter

The snow was white on the ground in the morning sun, and the Percheron horses, Andy and Rex, were ready to go.

“Step up,” said Craig Novotney, asking the chestnut team to take a short step up to untangle the chains that would soon be attached to a 20-foot-long ash log.

Into the afternoon on Wednesday, a crew of workers chopped, sawed and hauled about a dozen dead ash trees from the woods at Traverwood Street and Huron Parkway. But the trees - along with others saved when the land was cleared for construction - will reappear soon in the floors, ceilings and walls of the Ann Arbor District Library’s new branch, set to open at the site in 2008.

Several months ago, workers from Johnson Hardwoods of Troy took out another 20 ash trees from the woods that will abut the new library branch. Bark was stripped from the trees, which are now curing, said Johnson Hardwoods owner John Yarema.

The trees will used as supports for a beam in an area of the library that overlooks the woods. With the bark gone, library patrons will be able to see the tracks left by the emerald ash borer, the invasive insect killing off ash trees in the area.

The library will be as environmentally correct as it can be, given its $10 million budget, said library director Josie Parker.

There will be a rain garden, watered by rain running down from the roof, and storm water retention systems.

Though there are 4.34 acres of vacant land set aside for the new library, the one-story building will only take up about 16,500 square feet near the corner.

The horses were used to haul the trees out because they are less disruptive to the woods than construction machinery would be, Parker said. The cost of the cutting and hauling will be paid with a $30,000 grant from the Southeast Michigan Resource Conservation and Development Council.

Andy and Rex were literally champing at the bit to get to work.

A few parents with children showed up to see the horses before they clopped off. Held back by an orange plastic snow fence, the public could only catch glimpses when the pair dragged a log to a staging area.

John Takas, who came by with his wife, Helen Chang, and 4-year-old Valeria, said he preferred seeing the work done by horses, instead of noisy earthmovers belching black smoke, even if it was more expensive.

“Esthetics are as important as economics,” Takas said. “If we wanted everything on the cheap, we’d all shop at Wal-Mart. This is why we live in Ann Arbor.”

Marianne Rzepka can be reached at mrzepka@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6820.