116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids raises community Christmas tree
CEDAR RAPIDS - A 35-foot Colorado blue spruce, is now standing tall in Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids.
Crews from the city's Parks and Recreation and Forestry departments were out Monday morning to raise the community Christmas tree, which is to be lighted during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday as part of the annual Fire & Ice Festival.
The tree was donated to the city by Rick Steepleton, who said he planted the tree as a 4-year-old sapling in his front yard 24 years ago.
'It was the perfect place for it to go,” he said. 'It's kind of outgrown our yard. I never did one thing to it. It was just beautifully symmetrical.”
The tree, measuring 20 to 25 feet in circumference, arrived at the park on a flatbed truck and was hoisted into position with help from a crane donated by Coonrod Crane Services, 4000 E Ave. NW.
Steepleton said although neighbors already have commented they'll miss seeing the tree after it was cut down Monday morning, he wanted to donate it while it was still healthy.
Steepleton's three children and a few neighbors are to help him light the tree at Friday's ceremony.
In year's past, the city's Christmas tree was placed in the northwest side of Greene Square and on May's Island, said Todd Fagan, city arborist. But with reconstruction of Greene Square now complete, the tree is to make its home in alignment with a sculpture installed earlier this year called 'Rollic.” Together, they form a visual connection between the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
The tree sits in a stand and is held in place by four cables attached to poles that were included in the redesign of Greene Square, Fagan said.
Before placing the tree in the stand, city workers attached the star and some of the lights on the upper section of the tree. They planned to finish stringing the lights after the tree was upright.
Saturday's lighting ceremony is one of five scheduled as part of the Five Trees for the Season tree lightings. Others are:
l Wednesday - 5:15 p.m., Kingston Village District, corner of First Street and Third Avenue SW.
l Thursday - 5:15 p.m., MedQuarter District, MedQ Pocket Park.
l Friday - Times to be determined, NewBo District, NewBo City Market and Czech Village.
Cedar Rapids parks maintenance worker Tyler Dougherty adjusts LED lights on the city's Christmas tree in Greene Square on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Cedar Rapids city workers install the city's Christmas tree in Greene Square on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Cedar Rapids recreation maintenance worker Mike Lindeman holds strands of LED lights while helping install the city's Christmas tree in Greene Square on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Cedar Rapids recreation maintenance worker James Bowers climbs through the city's Christmas tree after removing the cabling used in its installation in Greene Square on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Cedar Rapids parks maintenance worker Tyler Dougherty adjusts LED lights on the city's Christmas tree in Greene Square on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
LED Christmas lights are laid out in Greene Square as Cedar Rapids city workers install the city's tree on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Joe Werling trims some branches from the underside of the Cedar Rapids community Christmas tree on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, in Greene Square. (Rob Clark/The Gazette)
A 35-foot-tall Colorado spruce arrives at Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. The community Christmas tree is to be lighted during a ceremony at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. (Rob Clark/The Gazette)
Mike Benedict, left, and Jerry Kirk, from the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department, attach the star to the top of the community Christmas tree on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, at Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids. (Rob Clark/The Gazette)
Daily Newsletters