CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Clarksville’s Parks & Recreation Department and the Clarksville Street Department will begin planting new trees on Franklin Street beginning at 7 a.m. on Sunday, October 6.
Approximately 15 new trees, five sweetgums and 10 planters will be added along the 100 block of Franklin Street in Downtown Clarksville.
“We are trying to minimize any adverse impacts to businesses,” Mayor Joe Pitts said. “So the work will begin early on Sunday when shops and restaurants are closed, and we hope to have the plantings wrapped up as soon as possible.”
In July, City officials announced a revised plan for replacing trees and landscape elements along Franklin Street. The new plan calls for replanting fewer trees than were removed and adding several new concrete planters filled with grasses and flowers matching the landscaping used at nearby Downtown Commons.
The plan to modify plant landscape on Franklin between First and Second streets was analyzed and revised in the spring and summer. With direction from the City Forester and input from downtown merchants and property owners, a new plan was developed. 15 rotundilobas, a fruitless sweetgum tree, will be planted in the tree wells. They will be less susceptible to being hit by vehicles. The other tree wells will be covered with large concrete planters.
“We always wanted some trees in the streetscape along Franklin,” Mayor Pitts said. “So we’re placing fewer trees, but a variety with a better size and shape, and some more planters. This all is designed to make the plantings easier to maintain, and to make the tree placements less prone to parallel-parking damage.”
The 12-foot tall sweetgum trees have been stored in Liberty Park. On Sunday, they will be moved and planted along Franklin Street by the Forestry Division, which is part of the Parks & Recreation Department, with help from Street Department equipment operators and laborers.
In preparation, repairs and additions to the lighting and electrical systems have been made to preserve adequate outlets and to provide new fixtures designed to provide “up-lighting” of the trees.