The Text Of My Original Proposal

As Promised...Here's What I Originally Took To The City...

The
K Street
Tree Sculpture
Project


By Virgil R. Rogers, III

February 27, 2006


In late 2005 the City of Brunswick and the Norwich/K Street community witnessed the loss of one of their oldest citizens—a gigantic old Live Oak tree that had stood watch over it’s fellow residents since the late 18th century. The tree was the unfortunate victim of a sewer trunk line construction project.

The “K-Street” tree is considered to possibly be old enough to have witnessed the founding of the City of Brunswick and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it is most definitely old enough to have lived through the battles of the War of 1812, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the seen the arrival of the airplane and the automobile in Glynn County.

The purpose and goals of what I call “The K Street Tree Sculpture Project” is not to lament the loss and second guess the reasons behind its demise, but rather to celebrate the life of this glorious old tree and to acknowledge the importance of all of these ancient leafed monoliths to our local citizens and the Golden Isles community.

To this end, I am considering several possible levels of project development, each with unique meaning, design requirements, and costs.

My initial single purpose and core goal is to save the remaining trunk from the K Street Tree from the Landfill, the Sawmill, or someone’s fireplace. That said, I propose that the tree’s trunk be salvaged, stored, and processed into some meaningful artistic symbol. Ideally it would afterward be returned to a location as close to its original location as possible. This would allow the local community to regain their familiar old resident in a dignified, yet revised appearance.

I am working on a number of variations on this theme:

1. Relocating, up-righting, and carving various portions of the trunk into images of well known individuals of historical regional and state significance. Those which initially come to mind include British General Oglethorpe, Poet Sidney Lanier, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Other more recent persons could also be considered.

2. Relocating, up-righting, and including the tree trunk in the middle of a new playground and play structure dedicated to the K Street children, including those at the adjacent Boys and Girls Club.

3. Relocating and including the tree trunk inside of or adjacent to some as yet unidentified facility—possibly a community or visitors center.

The involvement of the City of Brunswick and Glynn County would be encouraged and appreciated, but I would like to minimize the use of taxpayer funds for the purely “artistic” portion of the project. Depending on the final configuration and actual scope, assistance of the local government(s) in providing a display site and appropriate foundation could be critical to the success of the project.

Regarding the final design theme, something as simple as a contest held within the local schools, allowing the children to suggest the appearance is one possibility. Other options could be considered when and if they are presented.

I would like to elicit the ideas, opinions, and assistance from any and all members of the local government in formulating the project scope and direction, as well as in completing its implementation. Of course all local, state, and national Building Codes and Zoning Regulations would be strictly adhered to.

As an experienced engineer and project manager, I offer my services to manage and coordinate the K-Street Tree Sculpture Project to a successful conclusion. Local and nationally recognized artists, each familiar with the techniques of carving large scale sculpture out of trees would also be included on the project team.

In addition to local artist Keith Jennings—creator of the “Tree Spirit” carvings on St. Simons Island—I have made preliminary contact with several other national artists including Voss Finn and Joe King and I am awaiting their expression of interest in competing for the project.

Mr. Kings work includes projects for Pittsburgh’s Carnege Museum and the Smithsonian Institute. Some of his work includes:

I believe that the project completion timeframe would be between three months and one year, depending on the final scope and details undertaken. I have had a preliminary conversation with Mr. Gragg at Gragg Cabinets located on ML King Boulevard about using his property for temporary storage if necessary. As secure site is also required for use during construction to ensure public safety and to prevent vandalism.

A basic cost of between $3,000 and $10,000 could be expected, although this estimate is very preliminary and is again affected by the final project scope. Funding could be raised through donations from local individuals and businesses, including services to support the artist/craftsman’s per diem costs (hotel rooms, meals, etc.)

I look forward to working with the City of Brunswick government personnel and our local business community in facilitating the successful completion of this project, producing a result of which we can all be proud.

(all of the photographs and some of the formatting is missing because of limitations of HTML coding, but the text is verbatum)