Tryon Fine Arts Center (TFAC) will be removing a dead chestnut oak tree and its stump from Sassoon Park on Melrose Avenue in the next few weeks and replacing it with a new planting thanks to a generous donor.

The new tree, most likely deciduous, will enhance the already picturesque landscape designed by Innocenti & Webel during Phase I when the amphitheater, walkway and gardens were built.

TFAC Board President Tim Brannon, along with TFAC Vice President of Operations Chris Bartol, Landscape Architect Mark Byington and John Vining have been working on this project for several months and, in anticipation of the dying chestnut oak, a large shade tree was planted near the parking lot during Phase I.

John Vining and TFAC Operations Committee discussed in June that the tree was indeed dying. “It’s always a difficult thing to lose a mature tree, but in the interest of public safety, the dead tree should be removed, especially before winter sets in,” explains Vining.

Tryon Fine Arts Center (TFAC), opened in 1969, is a nonprofit organization that operates and programs a 300-seat auditorium and a 150 seat amphitheater for music, opera, theatre, film, exhibits and dance on Melrose Avenue in Tryon.

 

– Article submitted 

by Marianne Carruth