By Rachel Boudreau

For The Maine Campus

A 70-year-old Cottonwood tree in downtown Orono came down on Tuesday in preparation for a new structure to be the focal point for the downtown district.

According to Sophie Wilson, town manager of Orono, “this whole project began in 2009 when the Katahdin building caught fire.

“We weren’t even thinking about cutting the tree when we first started planning for this building. In the initial designs of what we wanted to do with the property, it did include the Cottonwood tree,” Wilson said.

A Facebook group had been created to help raise awareness about saving the tree, accruing over 150 “Likes.”

“We hired a landscape architect and construction workers to try to create a design that would allow the tree to stay,” Wilson said.

The town of Orono has a tree ordinance and tree board. According to the tree ordinance there are three factors that determine whether a tree can be cut down. The ordinance looks at the species of the tree. If the tree species is endangered they cannot cut it down. They also look at if there is anything rare about the tree in size or placement, and lastly they look at the health of the tree.

Cottonwoods have a lifespan of between 70-100 years. This tree has reached its life expectancy and did not meet any of the requirements to save it.

Cottonwood trees deteriorate rapidly from the inside out, and this one was doing just that.

After four City Council meetings, and hearing no public concern about the tree, the town decided that the tree had to come down. It was not until then that people started to have concerns and wanted to save the tree.

After several months of designing, planning, redesigning and reframing, the end result of what would be done with the property, which is now owned by the University Credit Union, is finally coming together.

A 16 thousand square foot University Credit Union Headquarters will take up part of the property in the heart of Orono.

“What we wanted to do with this property was twofold. Firstly, we wanted to announce that you were in downtown Orono. Right now, people drive through downtown and do not even know it is there. Secondly, there is a parking problem in downtown Orono, and this project will do both,” according to Wilson.

The design includes 826 plantings of trees, 91 of which are big trees. The design includes 78 parking spaces and a few seating areas.

Construction is set to begin this year with hopes that it will be done in 2014.

On Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. in the Orono Town Hall, there will be a special meeting for the public to raise concerns about the towns views on fiscal priority, and the aesthetics of the town.