New CWU Tree-lined Pedestrian Pathway Underway

Central Washington University will plant 18 new 8-- to12-ft. Sterling Linden trees along both sides of 9th Street Mall as part of the renovation and construction work surrounding Samuelson Hall.

Once fully mature, the 45-ft. tall trees will provide an ornamental canopy down the pedestrian mall.

CWU has closed the 9th Street Mall over the summer to accommodate for the construction to Samuelson Hall. The mall is a pedestrian route between Samuelson and, to the south, Kamola Hall and the Tunstall Dining Commons. The mall will be closed from June 12 to September 8.

The existing horse chestnut trees to the south of the mall will be removed on Monday, June 12 in order to start the demolition of the existing mall. The trees are old and in poor health. Several are filled with concrete to reinforce their rotten cores; one tree fell last month on a windy day. The 18 Sterling Linden trees will be planted in their place.

The Samuelson project is adding to and modernizing a Depression-era building into an integrated computational science and technology center.

To view the construction plans, including changes to landscaping, please see http://www.cwu.edu/facility/master-plan.

For more information about the project, contact: Lathan Wedin, 509-963-2631 or Lathan.Wedin@cwu.edu.

Media contact: Dawn Alford, public affairs coordinator, 509-963-1484, dawn.alford@cwu.edu.