When he was told the spruce tree he planted 18 years ago at the former site of Olds High School off of Highway 27 was going to be saved, Pierre Lambert was giddy. "That’s great.
When he was told the spruce tree he planted 18 years ago at the former site of Olds High School off of Highway 27 was going to be saved, Pierre Lambert was giddy.
"That’s great. That’s absolutely great," said Lambert, the school’s former French teacher and environment club leader who now lives in Victoria.
Lambert planted a tree donated by Dave Herbert, an instructor at the Olds College School of Horticulture who died in 2007, in 1995 and when the school was demolished in 2010, Chinook’s Edge School Division and the community managed to convince the demolition company to leave the tree standing.
Various ways of preserving the tree, from moving it to the new high school east of Highway 2A to transferring some of its seedlings to the new site, have been explored.
But the projected costs and risks to the tree have dampened any transplant efforts and many in the community who see the tree as part of the former high school’s legacy were concerned it would be destroyed if the property where it stands is developed.
Last month, however, the Cam Clark Auto Group, which is in the process of purchasing the former school site from the school division, confirmed it will not disturb the tree when it builds a new dealership on the land.
Lambert said he wasn’t surprised to hear the tree will be saved.
"I was expecting (this) because it’s so expensive to move a tree of that size," he said, adding he believes the tree will "enhance the site."
He said he is thankful for the company’s decision to incorporate the tree into its development plans.
"And all the students that worked on that tree, they’ll be grateful too."
Lambert said he keeps in contact with some former students from the high school and he planned to pass along the good news to them as well as his daughter, who helped plant the tree.
"She will be thrilled too."
Saving the tree, he added, means people still care about saving beautiful things.
"They have the right attitude."
Herbert’s daughter, Bonnie Gratz, who now lives in Kelowna, said she and her family were "thrilled" to hear of Cam Clark Auto Group’s generosity.
"My family and I love the idea that we will be able to see (the tree) for years to come now that it is preserved and that it may serve as a Christmas tree and for other creative uses," she said in an email. "My dad always joked that he was 'saving the world, one tree at a time’ when he was collecting seeds and planting flats. It is wonderful that now the keeping of the tree is now saving his memory as well."
Olds High School principal Tom Christiansen, who has worked at the school for 26 years, said the school’s current and former students and teachers will continue to have a reminder of the old school thanks to the company’s decision.
"That’s kind of the last thing left of that structure so I’m happy for that," he said. "Maybe we can even work with Cam Clark in figuring out some way of putting a plaque to say this was the original site of Olds High School.
"I was impressed that they listened to obviously some sentiments that came from people in the community. From that perspective, that’s nice. It’s their property, they can kind of do what they want, but it shows respect for the history."
Cam Clark, who is working alongside his son Blake, general manager of Olds' Cam Clark Ford dealership, to purchase the former high school site, said while his company is going to preserve the tree "for sure," he wanted to hold off on commenting on why the company made its decision until the land sale deal with the school division is finalized.
Allan Tarnoczi the school division’s assistant superintendent of corporate services, said he had "no changes to report" on the land sale deal.
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