The National Park Service will remove one of the mahogany trees from the Christiansted National Historical Site that is threatening the foundation of the 1830 Customs House, the service announced Monday.
The tree will be removed the week of July 14. The mahogany tree being removed is directly adjacent to Hospital Street and directly behind the 1830 Customs House. According to the National Park Service, the tree’s roots have infiltrated a storm drain, the roadway, and sidewalk, forcing water into the foundation of the Customs House. It also poses a storm threat to the building and phone lines.
The National Park Service will add two mahogany saplings, grown by seed from the park’s trees, in D. Hamilton Jackson Park. Under a policy that dictates planting more trees than are removed, NPS will also add an additional 100 trees to the Hemer’s Peninsula portion of the Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve this summer.
The work will require the temporary closure of Hospital Street just before Company Street for four hours.
The tree removal is part of a larger maintenance program. The Park Service contracted with SF General Maintenance Services LLC to supervise the maintenance trimming of other trees at the site, according to the news release.
