The City of Greenwood removed a clump of dangerously rotten cottonwood trees behind Nikkei Park that were in the way of a renovation project slated for the munipical campground, a city official confirmed Wednesday, Sept. 9.
The project will add 10 full-service stations for campers and recreational vehicles, plus six new tent sites.
The city will install underground water and sewage pipes as well as in-ground electric power, said Chief Administrative Officer Wendy Higashi. A new WiFi installation will offer connectivity to campground users by the winter, when Higashi said construction would finish.
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The cottonwoods had given much coveted shade to the campground’s existing picnic area, but she said the city decided the trees had to go after many residents called for the campground to be overhauled. Construction got underway earlier this summer, when she said the campground was unavailable to residents during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Some of the trees had dropped massive upper-canopy limbs over the summer, while others were so thoroughly decayed that they easily gave way to a front-end loader which knoced them over, root-balls and all.
Higashi estimated the project will cost around $70,000.
Appropriate shrubbery will be planted where the trees had stood, pending consideration by the city, she said.
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