AURORA | There’s a 55-foot tall blue spruce in the middle of the Anschutz Medical Campus that has seen it all. From the former Fitzsimons Army base to the construction of the now bustling, world-renowned health care institution, the tree has been rooted in place for more than five decades. University of Colorado Hospital officials wanted to preserve the tree for posterity, so they built the entire hospital expansion project around it.
Now, it sits sturdy and tall between the staff parking garage and the new Emergency Department and inpatient tower, covered in multi-colored lights. It’s the hospital’s very own Christmas tree.
“It’s just a fun thing,” said Bruce Schroffel, chief executive of University of Colorado Health. “I think people have enjoyed watching the buildings being built around it.”
Schroffel was president of the University of Colorado Hospital when contractors were planning the hospital expansion project about three years ago, and he was a major advocate of preserving the tree. Struck by its stature and good health, Schroffel thought it best to leave it on campus instead of demolishing it. “We didn’t want to take it down,” he said. Construction plans for the bridge that connects the staff-parking garage to the new Emergency Department had to be completely revised in order to save the tree.
“It’s sort of neat now because the bridge literally touches the tree and thousands of people will be walking on that bridge every day,” he said. “It’s a statement about being green, and a statement about nature. It’s something nice to have on campus.”
Construction workers have surrounded the tree with a fence to protect it from heavy machinery.
The tree holds particular significance for Steven Jones, head groundskeeper at the University of Colorado Hospital. Jones has been caring for the tree since August 2011. “It’s in a really cool spot for the campus visually,” he said. “It’s a significant landmark and personally, I’m happy they kept it. I hope the tree has a nice, long life.”
Jones, who has a degree in political science, joined the groundskeeping staff after having spent 20 years in the advertising business. But he’s been a gardener all his life. “My grandmother told me when I was a child that all Joneses garden. I took that to heart,” he said.
Every month, he feeds the tree about 500 gallons of water. Jones estimates it could be as old as 70 years, though it’s not likely to grow any taller because the construction zone has impeded the growth of its underground roots. “Our arborist who has examined the tree isn’t overly optimistic about its long-term status,” Jones said. “It’s not going to live another 70 years but we’d sure like to get a couple more decades out of it.”
There are a handful of other trees similar in stature near the campus, but none are in as good health as this particular blue spruce, known simply as “the tree” on campus, Jones said.
It’s rare for executives to design plans for construction around existing trees, he said. “It obviously would have been a whole lot easier to have a construction site that didn’t include a spruce in the middle of it,” he said.
Last summer, construction crews removed a dozen trees to pave the way for a new street connecting to East Colfax Avenue. Thirteen trees were saved — a few pines, and various deciduous trees — but many times it’s not possible to construct around the trees.
This year, Jones had a string of lights 1,500 feet long placed along the branches of the tree, with nearly 1,000 bulbs. The tree towers above students, patients and faculty at the campus. For Jones, it’s symbolic.
“I think it says a lot about the legacy we want to leave to people here … trees are a sign of health, of life,” he said. “This tree represents that.”
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.