A restoration plan has been approved for the open area to the south of Suzzallo Library — an area that has been fenced off for the last two years and occupied by construction trailers and a variety of equipment and supplies. Restoration work is expected to begin in late July.
“We took our plans to the Library Board and to the Campus Landscape Advisory Committee, and both groups have given their approval,” said Bill Talley, campus landscape architect.
Talley said the area, when completed, will look very much as it did before the construction people moved in, although there will be some improvements. For one thing, the backless benches that were against the building will be replaced by new, teak benches with backs, and these will be moved forward, to the edge of the sidewalk. As a result, there won’t be any lawn to the north of the sidewalk. Instead, there will be a series of plantings
For the gardeners in the audience, those plantings will include Escallonia, Dracaena, Blue Hydrangeas, Cannas and Tree Mallow. There will also be Abelia and Dwarf Japanese Holly.
On the other side of the sidewalk there were juvenile elms before construction began. “But when we removed them for the construction, we discovered that the grow bags in which they were planted had never been peeled back as they’re supposed to be,” Talley said. “So the roots didn’t spread properly and we had to discard them.”
The trees will be replaced, however, with other elms. Talley found a hybrid called Accolade that is resistant to Dutch elm disease — an important consideration, since the University is spending $10,000 a year trying to save the elms it already has from the disease.
The American Elm that is already on the site will remain, as will the Deodar cedar and the cherry trees next to Rainier Vista. The area around the trees will be lawn.
When the construction crews leave the area, they will remove the asphalt covering that was put down for their use, Talley said. UW grounds crews will then move in and make sure the irrigation system is intact before beginning work on the restoration.
Talley said it will probably be late September before the area is fully restored and ready for use.