Sacrificial trees

The University of Washington has one of the most beautiful, tree-shaded campuses in the nation. It came as a shock, therefore, as I strolled across campus today, to hear the harsh buzz of a chain saw. Suddenly, off to one side of me, I saw a tree wobble, collapse to the ground, and die. Closer investigation showed a number of neighboring trees also destined for immediate death.

Bit by bit, areas of the campus, once densely forested, have been cleared and built up as the university reaches out for ever more classrooms. Today's traumatic episode begins the construction of Paccar Hall. This new building for the business school is being built just north of Denny Hall, and just east of the new law school, on the southeast corner of Memorial Way and Stevens Way.

You can't stop progress, as they say. In this case the new construction does represent progress -- even at the cost of a few trees. Most of Paccar Hall will replace existing surface parking, and the cost of trees will be minimal. Once completed, a second adjacent building will replace Balmer Hall, an existing rather tacky 1950's building now serving the business school. The two new buildings will be joined together. Landscaping ultimately will no doubt restore the sacrificial trees.

The UW has unusually uniform and attractive "collegiate gothic" brick architecture. During the 1950's, one of the more lamentable eras in American architectural design, a few jarringly modern buildings were constructed. Besides Balmer Hall, these included the unfortunately named "Sieg Hall"(formerly called simply the General Engineering Building), and a central section of Suzzalo Library. This construction not only clashed with the rest of the campus, but was inherently unattractive even by the standards of the time.

During the last fifty years, however, the university has returned to brick construction that may lack the ornate detailing of the earlier buildings, but nevertheless blends attractively with the rest of the campus. (And within the last ten years, the school built a substantial addition to the old physics building that completely matched the gothic, castle-like appearance of the original, showing that the necessary skills to detail such buildings have not been lost.)

I hate to see even one tree fall to the ground, let alone a grove. But I'm pleased to live near a university that has shown as much care for the esthetic integrity of its campus, including trees and landscaping, as it has for the utility of its new construction. A friend, a graduate of Yale, visited me from out of town a few years ago. He expressed regret that his own alma mater had failed to show the same care in preserving an overall design to its campus.

So, I'm looking forward to seeing the new building as it rises. Together with the law school, it will present an impressive introduction to the campus through the main north entrance.