The Downtown Knox streetscape may soon get some improvements. The city’s redevelopment commission last month agreed to use some of its funding to replace the trees along Main Street.
Mayor Dennis Estok said the city has begun removing the Bradford pear trees, which are nearing the end of their lifespan.
“It blocks the view of a lot of the stores,” Said Mayor Estok. “They’ve gotten way too big. They don’t even plant them in cities anymore. They don’t do it. But nobody knew 20 years ago. Them are about 20 years old. They usually last between 20 and 30 years, and we can already see that.”
Estok noted that the trees would have been replaced had Constellation of Starke gotten a Stellar Community designation, and there’s a chance that Knox Main Street United could eventually qualify for grants. But he didn’t think the city could wait any longer.
“I don’t want to waste another year. We need a program to start replacing them, and to me, I would just go right down Main Street and take them all out and replace them all at the same time. It’s not going to be that expensive. What do you guys [think], $400 or $500 a tree? Six?”
The city will continue working with Forester Gina Darnell to select replacement trees.
