A centuries-old tree fell in front of the Department of Drama yesterday morning, blocking the building's main entrance.
The oak tree, which measured four and a half feet in diameter and over one hundred feet in height, reportedly fell around 7 a.m. yesterday, University facilities management arborist Jerry Brown said.
"It fell at a good time at 7 and not 8," Brown said. "Lots of people do cross through here."
Brown attributes the tree's fall not only to its poor health but also the recent inclement weather.
"Looks to me like the roots decayed at the base ... and the rain [helped]," Brown said. "It was time for it to go, and it did."
The unusually large size of the acorn crop may have also been a factor, Brown said.
The tree did not cause any damage to the building, explained Don Parker, electrician for OTIS Elevator Company, who arrived on the scene shortly after the tree's fall for repairs unrelated to the incident.
"It brushed up against the doors," Parker said. "It didn't break anything, and it didn't hold us up."
Though the tree did not physically harm the Drama Department, its loss was a disruptive presence at Culbreth.
"I was here at 8 in the morning and that's all anyone could talk about -- it was like someone had died," third-year College student, Annie Steingold said.
The tree was specifically spared during the excavation of Culbreth and played a role in the life of the Drama Department, providing shade for classes and a stage for productions held outside, Drama Prof. LaVahn Hoh said.
"There was an endowment to feed the tree," Hoh said. "There was a great effort to keep it alive."
The last remnants of the tree will be cleaned up by this afternoon, Brown explained.
The Drama Department currently has no plans for the plot of land formerly occupied by the oak, Hoh said.
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