Two hurricanes later, UF will begin removing the Norman Hall oak tree that collapsed during Hurricane Helene.
The century-old tree, which stood at the center of the Norman Hall courtyard, was a central part of UF. When the tree fell during Hurricane Helene, the College of Education did not have enough time to remove the tree before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
Kevin Coulson, a spokesperson for the UF College of Education, said he understands the value of the Norman Hall oak tree to campus. While it’s a great loss to the university, he’s been conferring with the college and UF Facilities Services to safely remove the tree.
The removal process will begin on Oct. 21, according to Coulson, and will close the access road off of 12th Street. The area surrounding the courtyard will be off-limits to students, Coulson added, but the parking garage and flat lot will remain open.
UF Facilities Services is advising students and faculty to stay away from the courtyard to make sure no one gets hurt during the removal process. They also plan to collect large pieces from the tree as a way to commemorate its history and significance to campus.
“Our intent is to create a meaningful, functional memorial to be housed at the College of Education, along with lasting individual remembrances of our beloved Norman oak,” he said.
Mark Helms, the assistant vice president for UF Facilities Services, said while it can be upsetting to see the tree removed, it’s necessary to ensure students, faculty and staff are safe.
“We’ve got a lot of people who dedicate a huge amount of time to making sure the tree canopy here stays safe and that we’re doing the proper things for the trees,” Helms said.
He learned the tree was destroyed around midnight Sept. 27 after Hurricane Helene’s 60 mph winds swept through campus. One section of the tree fell onto Norman Hall. As the storm worsened, the second half of the tree came down. The tree knocked out a window in a Norman Hall office and damaged a small area of trim from the top of the building.
UF Facilities was very familiar with the tree, he said. It had done what it could to keep the tree healthy, like consistently trimming branches. However, it was not aware that the inside of the oak tree rotted until it fell.
“We try to do everything we can,” he said. “It’s almost impossible with as many trees as this beautiful campus has.”
He said a cleanup crew was not able to remove the tree as quickly as they wanted due to Hurricane Milton’s arrival about a week after Hurricane Helene passed through the state.
UF Facilities needed to rent specific removal equipment for the tree removal because the remains are tucked inside the Norman Hall courtyard, Helms said. The equipment’s arrival was then delayed as Hurricane Milton formed in the Gulf.
UF Facilities began trimming limbs of the oak tree to open walkways.
The process of fully removing the tree will begin Monday and take a team of five to 10 people. The team will start by cutting the outside of the tree and work its way in. The goal is to make smaller pieces out of the bigger pieces so the debris is manageable.
Helms doesn’t know what will happen with the wood from the tree once it’s cut down.
“You take a tree like this and you get excited about what you might do with it,” he said. “Some oak is really good for making furniture and doing all sorts of things. Other oak isn't.”
He said the wood from the Norman Hall oak tree would be better suited to make small trinkets. The wood from the tree will get turned into mulch and used on top of soil across campus.
“It’s horrible when you lose trees,” he said. “It’s such a huge part of who we are. It really helps define this campus.”
Finding a way to keep the tree’s legacy alive is a goal for UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, according to Senior Vice President of IFAS, Scott Angle. The former UF provost said he was sad to hear the news about the tree.
“All trees have an end of life, but it’s sad when it’s been a big part of a college,” Angle said.
Angle received a call from the College of Education Dean Glenn Good. Good asked if there was anything IFAS could do to keep or memorialize the tree.
One proposal is to take acorns from the courtyard, plant them in a greenhouse and replant the saplings at the Normal Hall nine months later. However, the acorns may be immature and unable to germinate.
Another proposed plan would be to clone the tree. This would require taking pieces of living tissues from the tree, like a piece of green leaf, and combining them with hormones that produce roots. However, neither of these proposals have thus far been decided on.
“It takes time to grow a tree,” Angle said. “If we grow a tree from an acorn, you can guess how long that takes.”
Contact Delia Rose Sauer at drosesauer@alligator.org. Follow her on X @_delia_rose_.
Delia Rose Sauer is a junior journalism student and the Fall 2024 University General Assignment Reporter. This is her second semester on the University Desk. In her free time, she's drawing on Procreate, crocheting or exploring music genres.
