Oksana Carlier/Winonan

The trees surrounding the Prentiss-Lucas residence halls at Winona State University were recently removed due to rotting.

Steven Morrison, the building and grounds maintenance supervisor, said, “The trees were removed because they had lived their life cycle.”

Morrison said the trees had been dying for a couple of years and parts of them had fallen across the sidewalks.

“We wanted to make sure that the trees were removed before someone was injured or the buildings were damaged,” he said.

The project was started over winter break and completed just after students came back to Winona State University.

Students, however, felt they were left out of the discussion.

One Lucas resident, Michelle Irvine, said, “I think it looks horrible, and I think they should have sent out a letter explaining why they are cutting down every single tree surrounding Lucas.”

Another Lucas resident, Rachel Troia, said the plans should have been explained to students beforehand.

Troia and Irvine agreed that they would like to see some sort of replacement for the trees, whether it is bushes, benches, flowers or new trees. Irvine suggested a garden.

“Something definitely needs to go there,” Troia said.

“Then it’s not just empty, open, ugly space.”

Morrison explained that some alternatives would be started this spring.

“The plan is to plant a few trees, get the grass to grow again and place benches in the area for students to enjoy again,” he said.

“Years ago, there was green space for the students to enjoy for studying and relaxing. But over the years, the canopy of the trees created dense shade so the grass could not grow,” Morrison said.

Tree maintenance is a continuous process.

Morrison said a hackberry tree near Maxwell Hall is dying and will be removed sometime during the summer when there are less people walking around campus and near the site.

Sections of the tree have already fallen onto Maxwell.

In the near future, students can also expect a new garden on campus that will host various Minnesota plants.

Contact Oksana at [email protected]