Articles
The Origin of Aiken Streetscapes
By William Parker Stoker
April 23, 2020
“For over 125 Years Aiken has been renowned for its dedication and preservation of our glorious parks, magnificent trees and beautiful parkways. It is our responsibility to protect and preserve, for future generations, what has been given to us”. Mission Statement, Aiken Streetscapes
Rob Johnston remembers riding his bike to school at St. Mary’s, shaded by the majestic live oak trees along South Boundary Avenue. Like many of Aiken’s sons, life led him away from his hometown for a while, but he never forgot the feeling of “just looking at all the wonderful trees and knowing that they were something special.” He also recalls, when he moved back to Aiken in 2006, “noticing that the grand trees from the 1950s and 1960s were dying because of old age or disease,” and knowing that something had to be done.
The fate of Aiken’s famed Maid Marion, a 300-year old white oak once hailed as the largest in the state, was a watershed moment for present-day conservation efforts. Standing over 100 feet tall, with a 150-foot wide canopy, the grand dame tree was much beloved by generations of Aikenites. Quietly, however, concern had been mounting among some observers and advocates. A cavity in her trunk, bricked up decades ago under the conventional wisdom at the time, was weakening the tree’s structural stability, and the ice storm of 2014 only hastened her decline.
“We knew that she needed some attention, but at the time we didn’t have a mechanism to assess that or to know what to do to save her,” explained then-City Councilman Phil Merry. A group of citizens rallied against a plan to cut down the tree, but their flurry of fundraising proved too little, too late. Before a decision could be reached about how to save Maid Marion, she was brought down by a windstorm. As Johnston put it, “a crisis was happening and there wasn’t a protocol to say what to do… It bothered me that there wasn’t a protocol for a national treasure like that.” There’s no replacing a legend, but the issue of continuity in South Boundary’s iconic canopy weighed on his mind as similar fates befell many of its grand old trees, and cheap saplings were planted in their place. “They were planting these little toothpick trees instead of putting in adequate replacements. After 50 years of that, I was worried that we wouldn’t have the kind of city that we have today. The magic would be gone.”
The grand trees Johnston remembers from his boyhood have their roots in a visionary public-private initiative led by another devoted son of Aiken, Mr. Henry Dibble, around the turn of the century. A prominent local businessman and philanthropist, Mr. Dibble was also accustomed to riding down South Boundary Avenue on his way downtown to work from his home in Montmorenci. Wanting not only to beautify the way into Aiken, but also to pay forward his love of the town for future generations, Mr. Dibble approached Mayor Julian Salley with a plan: he would make a large donation toward the planting of live oaks along South Boundary, if the city would provide matching funds. Over a century later, that seed money has flourished into one of Aiken’s greatest treasures.
Any stroll through the pages of Aiken’s history will tell you that the same forward-thinking spirit is in the roots of the city itself. Local
historians believe, for example, that the engineers who laid out Aiken’s distinctive wide streets and open parkways in the 1830s were inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s “chequer board” plan for healthful urban development. Over the years, these streetscapes have been both protected and cultivated through the cooperative efforts of Aiken’s elected city fathers and her dedicated sons and daughters. Public-private initiatives seems to yield success stories on every page, from the time when Eulalie Salley—the famed civic leader, “first lady of South Carolina real estate,” and wife of Mayor Julian Salley—fertilized the Park Avenue magnolias at her own expense after a group of citizens defeated a measure to pave them over, to the year that the Aiken Association of Insurance Agents dedicated all of their city-based commissions to planting azaleas around town. In each case, moreover, Aiken’s most successful businesspersons have demonstrated their belief that investing in what makes the city special is a winning proposition.
In this spirit, two years after Maid Marion’s fall, Mr. Johnston joined Mayor Rick Osbon at a press conference to announce a new public-private initiative to ensure the long-term health and prosperity of Aiken’s “gentle giants,” the grand old trees that put the magic in our streets. With the aid of the Aiken Land Conservancy, of which he is a trustee, Johnston and his wife Pam arranged to fund a comprehensive study by the Bartlett Tree Experts company, which generated a detailed overview, valuation, and management plan for every last tree on city-owned properties. Bartlett’s survey estimated the asset value of Aiken’s trees at over $130 million—a resounding testament to the foresight of previous generations, and a truly special bequest for the future. The Johnstons want to see the entire city benefit from this management plan. “One thing that I would like to emphasize is that a tree doesn’t know what a ZIP Code is,” Rob said. “I want this to be done everywhere in the city, not just in selected areas.” Aiken Streetscapes is looking forward to working with Stuart Bedenbaugh, our City Manager, and Aaron Campbell, City Horticulturist, both of whom have been supportive friends of this initiative from its inception.
In order to enact the Bartlett Urban Forest Management Plan, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have established Aiken Streetscapes, which, in partnership with the Aiken Land Conservancy, has offered a two million-dollar donation to be matched by the City of Aiken over a ten-year period. A four million-dollar joint commitment will go a long way toward addressing the challenges of maintaining our urban forest, ensuring the ongoing health and longevity of Aiken’s greatest asset over the next one hundred years, and, hopefully, attracting others to get involved. This initiative has already yielded lasting success by completing the first phase of an underground powerline project with Dominion Power, forever removing the need for damaging and unsightly cuts to the live oaks on South Boundary.
Humble by nature, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston intended for their donation to remain anonymous, but after some arm-twisting by close friends and colleagues, they agreed to make their support public in the hope of encouraging further support by Aiken’s loyal citizens and civic leaders. As Dacre Stoker, Executive Director of Aiken Streetscapes, put it, “Pam and Rob Johnston have both a great sense of gratitude for those who’ve given us what we enjoy today, and a strong sense of responsibility to continue to support and build a foundation for the future. Aiken’s trees are not just our most cherished asset; they also root us in our past, and make Aiken the special place it is today.”
Study: Aiken’s trees worth more than $130M
Colin Demarest cdemarest@aikenstandard.com
Apr 24, 2018
The City of Aiken’s 23,016 trees are, in total, worth more than $130 million, according to a newly published study.
On Monday night, Bartlett Tree Experts presented its inventory of the City’s trees and provided City Council a management plan. The analysis looked at three areas: parkways, of which there are 249; City-owned parcels; and rights of way. Larger land masses – forested areas, basically – were studied and considered, as well.
“We’re just thankful and beyond blessed that we’re able to share this with the City of Aiken,” Justin Lee, Bartlett’s local representative, said.
One tree alone, the City’s most valuable, is worth $70,126.84. It is located in Hopelands Gardens. Eight of the top 10 most valuable trees are live oaks, according to the study.”The big number here is the estimated asset value…” Michael Sherwood, a Bartlett Inventory Solutions manager and master arborist, said. None of the top 10 most valuable trees are located on Aiken’s iconic South Boundary Avenue. Sherwood said that was surprising. Parkways account for approximately half of the City’s tree value. A tree’s price tag, in this study, was determined by several factors: size, species desirability, location and condition.
Of the City’s 23,016 trees, 62 percent are in good shape, according to the study. Nearly 1,300 trees are in poor condition, that’s 6 percent of the total, and 196 trees are dead. The near-majority of trees in Aiken are mature. There are 436 species of tree – “a very unique collection,” as Sherwood put it – in the City, 75 percent of which are native to the state, the study explains.
“Guess what, your most predominant species is oak,” Sherwood said. “Does that surprise anybody? No.”
On Monday night, City Council member Ed Girardeau described the study, and the City’s greenery, as “amazing.”Aiken has been named a “Tree City USA” every year since 1985, the study notes.
Maintaining that title – and maintaining the City’s sprawling canopies – is expensive and work-intensive, something the Bartlett study acknowledges and provides answers for.
The Bartlett study advises the City to perform “risk mitigation activities” for 1,155 defective or damaged trees.
The study also calls for the pruning of 8,855 trees to better health, appearance and safety. Structural support, which reduces the chance of branch or tree collapse, is recommended for 356 trees.
After the presentation, Mayor Rick Osbon said the Bartlett study, which he said he was thoroughly impressed with, marks the start of a citywide tree program. On Tuesday morning, he elaborated.
“It reveals several things to us…” Osbon said of the study. “I think this is a great beginning for a comprehensive look at protecting and preserving the trees.” Osbon said City Council and citizens alike love the City’s trees – “landmarks,” he later called them.
“I certainly couldn’t imagine our city without them,” the mayor added.
The tree inventory was funded with a donation from Rob Johnston, who worked with the Aiken Land Conservancy.
Plan announced to assess and create management plan for Aiken’s trees
By Dede Biles dbiles@aikenstandard.com
Mar 3, 2017
A man who is tired of watching Aiken’s grand old trees die and fall down is stepping up make sure the ones that remain are protected and maintained. Rob Johnston is providing funds for the City to hire a firm to create a comprehensive management plan that would include a strategy for replacing the big trees that Aiken loses.
During a press conference at the Municipal Building on Friday morning, Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon introduced Johnston and announced that the City is moving forward after receiving Johnston’s generous offer and has issued a request for proposal, or RFP.“I want just want to say how proud the City is to have a citizen like Rob Johnston and how much we appreciate and applaud him,” Osbon said. “He would have liked to have done this anonymously, but I urged him to let us recognize him because we want to encourage others to join us and be a part of this.” According to the RFP, the firm hired to develop a management plan will take an inventory of the municipal trees in Aiken and assess their condition. It also will establish a baseline measure of the City’s tree canopy coverage and available planting space. “I remember riding my bike to school at St. Mary’s and just looking at all the wonderful trees and knowing that they were something special,” said Johnston, whose family moved to Aiken in 1953 because his father went to work at the Savannah River Plant, now known as the Savannah River Site. “Then I left Aiken for many years and moved back here in 2006,” Johnston continued, “and I started noticing that grand trees from the 1950s and 1960s were dying because of old age or disease.” In 2015, a group of Aiken residents called the Friends of Maid Marion urged the City to save a mighty white oak nicknamed Maid Marion after they learned of a plan to cut it down.
But before the City could make a final decision about the fate of the tree, which was a South Carolina champion because of its huge size, it collapsed during stormy weather.There was a large cavity in Maid Marion’s trunk, and City Manager John Klimm was trying to determine the feasibility of proposal from a North Carolina-based arborist to stabilize the oak.“A crisis was happening and there wasn’t a protocol to say what to do – treat it, let it die, take it down,” Johnston said. “It bothered me that there wasn’t a protocol for a national treasure like that.”But Maid Marion’s demise wasn’t the only reason for Johnston’s concern.“It was only one of the many trees that have been lost in Aiken,” Johnston said. “We lost some on Richland Avenue, we lost some on Newbery Street and we lost three in our yard on South Boundary. They were planting these little toothpick trees instead of putting in adequate replacements. After 50 years of that, I was worried that we wouldn’t have the kind of City that we have today. The magic would be gone.”Johnston, who divides his time between Aiken and Atlanta, is the chairman of First Communities, an Atlanta-based multi-family apartment management company.
The cost of creating a tree management plan for Aiken isn’t known yet, Johnston said, but he added that he is prepared to pay “whatever is needed.”Johnston said he also is willing to contribute additional money to implement the plan.“I’m guessing that you’re probably talking about maybe $100,000 a year for the ongoing care of the trees,” Johnston said. “How much depends on if you replace a tree with a $1,000 tree or if you replace it with an $8,000 tree.”Johnston expressed optimism that other residents of Aiken would contribute financially to the effort.“I have a feeling that this will excite other people,” Johnston said. “I’ve gotten calls, and I know there are people out there looking for a program to be involved in.” According to a City of Aiken press release, the tree inventory part of the project will mainly target the estimated 8,000 trees in the 176 parkways in the downtown area. But Johnston wants to see the entire City benefit from final the management plan.“One thing that I would like to emphasize is that a tree doesn’t know what a ZIP Code is,” Johnston said. “I want this to be done everywhere in the City, not just in selected areas.”
Friday, July 28th, 2017 / News 12 NBC 26 News at 6 O’clock
By Matt Kaufax
Posted: Fri 6:43 PM, Jul 28, 2017
AIKEN, SC. (WRDW/WAGT) — Today the City of Aiken launched a project that will endeavor to inventory each of its 14,000 trees.
“We are essentially giving these trees names. We are identifying them,” said Justin Lee, Project Manager for Bartlett Tree Experts, the company hired by the Aiken Land Conservancy to carry out the project.
Today’s kickoff featured an unlikely special guest–a baby oak tree, the first of many to be planted, but also a one of a kind replacement.
“With that the spirit of Maid Marion will continue to live on,” said Aiken City Council member Philip Merry. Maid Marion, once dubbed the largest white oak in South Carolina, was a historic tree that came down just after the 2014 ice storm. “We knew that she needed some attention, but at the time we didn’t have a mechanism to asses that or to know what to do to save her,” he explained. Now the city will have that information and more for its historic landmark trees–made possible by a $107,000 donation from Land Conservancy member and Aiken resident Rob Johnston. “I’m just honored and humbled to be a part of the project,” Johnston told News 12 over the phone.
“[This project] gives a snapshot a life expectancy, potential hazards, potential failures down the road,” said Lee.
Under a new digital mapping system, every single tree in Aiken will have a file showing its name, size, location, an even health and planting recommendations. “It’s all gonna be stored to a database, and that’s a database called arbor scope,” Lee said. Digital mapping will show the tree on Google Maps and even give it exact GIS coordinates to map it to its roots. Anyone in the city will be able to access it.
“It’s gonna live on for generations. It’s gonna live on well past us,” Lee said.
“And we hope that they’ll be here long after we’re gone for our children and our children’s children,” Merry added.
Most importantly, they say, it’s about preserving the heritage and magic of these trees in a city known for its beauty.
Aiken receives $107K tree grant from conservancy
By Staff Reports
editorial@aikenstandard.co
Jun 12, 2017
Efforts to inventory and manage some of Aiken’s most important trees is taking root thanks a major grant. The Aiken Land Conservancy has planted $107,200 in seed money that will be used in phase one of the City of Aiken’s efforts to survey the City’s many trees. It will target the City’s estimated 16,000 trees, including trees within Aiken’s many parkways.
“The Aiken Land Conservancy is thrilled to be a partner with the City in this exciting effort, which has been made possible by the generous donation of one of our Trustees and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johnston,” Joanna Dunn Samson, the President of Aiken Land Conservancy, said in a news release from the City of Aiken
The project’s goals are threefold:
First, the City will inventory and assess the condition of Aiken’s trees.It will also provide what the City calls a “Tree Canopy Assessment,” which will help determine canopy coverage and available planting space.
“These may include, but are not limited to, street tree planting and canopy coverage goals, and long-term sustainability issues impacting storm water, transportation and energy distribution networks,” the news release states.
Lastly, there will be an overall management plan to help guide, future funding, maintenance, and preservation of Aiken’s magnificent urban forest, the release continued.Aiken’s parkways are slated to receive another form of care through a pilot program announced in March. The intent of the program is to spruce up the City’s many parkways to encourage greater public use.
The pilot program will begin on Park Avenue between Laurens and Newberry streets. Preliminary plans entail adding cafe tables and seating, building a pathway, benches, a fountain and other amenities. No trees would be removed, though some shrubbery and lower limbs would be trimmed, City officials said.
