The city's decision to fell the Old Globe Theatre's 100-foot sugar gum tree for safety reasons attracted a lot of hoopla last month.
The 73-year-old eucalyptus will likely be replaced by two English oaks, a hearty, stately tree that was chosen as an homage to the theater's summer Shakespearean festival. More oaks will appear across Balboa Park as the city replaces the giant eucalyptuses that have a habit of toppling over during winter windstorms.
Park officials have chosen the Engelmann Oak – a native of Southern California that usually grows about 10 feet tall – the many-branched Coast Live Oak, the evergreen Southern live oak and the Cork oak, which hails from Europe and Africa and can be harvested for usable cork.
They like these oaks because they have strong limbs and do not require a lot of water, as the park has operated at minimum watering levels for several years and Mayor Jerry Sanders is promoting water conservation citywide.
Hundreds of these oaks are growing in the park's nursery, waiting to be planted. About 50 Torrey pines stand on deck there, as well. The Torrey pine, one of San Diego's official trees, is accustomed to dry, sandy soils.
Other trees being considered to reforest the park's canyons are the big-cone spruce, a native of Southern California's mountains, and Mexico's San Pedro Martir cypress.
But, to Mark Ellingson of Chula Vista, there may never be another tree like the Old Globe sugar gum.
On the weekend before the tree's demise, Ellingson, 27, set up a tribute in front of the theater's courtyard. He supplied paper and art supplies for people to pen goodbye notes to the eucalyptus.
The result: A sackful of cards, which Ellingson kept and hopes to turn into a time capsule that could be planted alongside the new trees. He also wrote a poem about the eucalyptus and placed flowers beneath it before he left his post.
“I felt like I was the voice of the tree. I was there all weekend,” he said. “This was my chance to say goodbye.”
A computer worker by day, Ellingson said he fell in love with Balboa Park when he moved to San Diego in 2001 and took many photos of the Old Globe sugar gum over the years.
He created a Web site to honor the tree, He invites people to go there and submit their photos and memories.
A contentious split
The Centro Cultural de la Raza and its longtime dance company have parted ways, and the split was somewhat contentious.
The Ballet Folklorico en Aztlan left the Park Boulevard cultural center when director Viviana Enrique Acosta was laid off. Acosta, who was also the Centro's performance coordinator, said the move was about money.
“The Centro is heading in sort of a different direction under the new administration and there's been a lack of funds,” she said.
The strife hit when Acosta also took with her $40,000 in costumes used by the ballet. Centro director Stephanie de la Torre called police to report it as a theft.
The costumes, according to the police report, were bought with grant money from the Target Corp. San Diego police dropped the matter after deciding it was a civil dispute and didn't involve criminal behavior, a police spokeswoman said.
Laurie Burgett, interim president of the Centro board, said the center reorganized and Acosta's full-time position had to go.
“We run with a pretty small budget,” Burgett said. “It's hard to cover everything. We decided if we had more part-time employees we could cover more things.”
The split comes after a major step toward peace at the Centro. A seven-year boycott of the center by local artists ended a year ago.
A section of the Latino artist community had shunned the center for, in their view, not embracing the aspirations of Mexican-American and native artists.
A July exhibit last year was the first since the rapprochement, and the center was recently named the San Diego recipient of the 2008 Peacemaker Awards given by the National Conflict Resolution Center.
Burgett said the ballet's departure is counterbalanced by the end of the boycott and some new initiatives, including a partnership with artist Reg E. Gaines, who will help them create a hip-hop, spoken-word program for teenagers. Some ballet folklorico dancers still perform at the center.
Acosta said her ballet company continues to give shows and is working out of a North Park studio. Information on the group can be found at or call (619) 248-8943.
Staff writer Jeanette Steele covers Balboa Park and downtown San Diego.
Jeanette Steele: (619) 293-1030; jen.steele@uniontrib.com
