Calgary's International Avenue BRZ hosts 'Great Forest Lawn Tree Move'

TheInternational Avenue BRZis digging up its trees and giving them away.

Well, almost.

The 16-year-oldtrees are free butCalgarians must stillpay to have themuprooted, delivered and replanted on their property.

The fee for that is $420 per tree, which Alison Karim-McSwiney says is a deal.

"They're very large, the majority of them are healthy. When we actually planted them, we made sure there was a maximum amount of soil mass," thedirector of the International Avenue Business Revitalization Zone(BRZ)told the Calgary Eyeopener on Thursday.

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"So we feel very comfortable that these trees can be relocated and find a new home."

There are about 300 elms, green ash and Schubert cherry trees lining themain throughway of Forest Lawn, but all ofthem have to go before thecity can begin work onthe17 Avenue S.E. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

Karim-McSwiney saidsome of thetrees will be moved to another area in thecommunity and used as part of the BRT redesign, but at least 200 have to find a new spot to put down their roots.

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She's confident the trees will go fast, seeing as so manywere killedduring the September snowstorm two years ago.

"You know, a lot of people may have lost some really beautiful and mature trees and we just felt that we wanted to give back."

The southeastBRT is expected to be complete in 2018 andKarim-McSwineysaid the redesign will include"well over 500" new trees.

"So we will have a greater forest in Forest Lawn."

Calgarians have until Sept. 28 tosign up online forone of the old trees,which will be delivered the first week of October.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener