PHOTOS: Cedar Rapids' Christmas tree by the Tree

Anyone looking for this year's city Christmas tree will need to look in a different spot.

Concerns about flood damage to the underground parking garage on May's Island forced a move from the center of the island to First Avenue and First Street NE, where the big evergreen will share space with the metal Tree of Five Seasons.

The real tree was donated by Evelyn and Dan Nuehring of 729 18th St. NW, who planted the white fir in their front yard in 1989. It was 6 feet tall but kept growing an growing until it threatened to overwhelm the house.

So donating the tree to the city in exchange for free removal seemed like a “win-win” for everyone.

Still, the owners felt a bit nostalgic as they watched a crane lift the approximately 25-foot-tall tree to a waiting truck.

“I was just saying goodbye to it because we had a wonderful time when it was decorated,” Evelyn Nuehring said Monday morning. “But it got so big, so many lights to put on, we had to say, ‘That's enough.'”

Evelyn Nuehring works in the city's golf department, but even that “edge” won't get a tree chosen ahead of others. The Nuehrings offered the city the tree several years ago but had to wait their turn for the holiday honor.

The new spot for the tree presented no problem for parks and recreation workers, who handled the move again this year. One veteran parks worker, on the job for 37 years, said Cedar Rapids probably started putting up a city Christmas tree 45 or 50 years ago.

Cedar Rapids Parks Superintendent Dan Gibbins believes the new location is more visible and may draw more sightseers.

“You know, as people wrap around (Interstate) 380 and come down First Avenue, they'll get a good view of it - so it's a good spot for the community,” Gibbins said.

If you want to see the tree's lights come on, be downtown at 5 p.m. Saturday. The ceremony marks the opening of the Fire & Ice Festival, which will be followed by the holiday parade - and the arrival of Santa - at 6 p.m.

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Anyone looking for this year's city Christmas tree will need to look in a different spot.

Concerns about flood damage to the underground parking garage on May's Island forced a move from the center of the island to First Avenue and First Street NE, where the big evergreen will share space with the metal Tree of Five Seasons.

The real tree was donated by Evelyn and Dan Nuehring of 729 18th St. NW, who planted the white fir in their front yard in 1989. It was 6 feet tall but kept growing an growing until it threatened to overwhelm the house.

So donating the tree to the city in exchange for free removal seemed like a “win-win” for everyone.

Still, the owners felt a bit nostalgic as they watched a crane lift the approximately 25-foot-tall tree to a waiting truck.

“I was just saying goodbye to it because we had a wonderful time when it was decorated,” Evelyn Nuehring said Monday morning. “But it got so big, so many lights to put on, we had to say, ‘That's enough.'”

Evelyn Nuehring works in the city's golf department, but even that “edge” won't get a tree chosen ahead of others. The Nuehrings offered the city the tree several years ago but had to wait their turn for the holiday honor.

The new spot for the tree presented no problem for parks and recreation workers, who handled the move again this year. One veteran parks worker, on the job for 37 years, said Cedar Rapids probably started putting up a city Christmas tree 45 or 50 years ago.

Cedar Rapids Parks Superintendent Dan Gibbins believes the new location is more visible and may draw more sightseers.

“You know, as people wrap around (Interstate) 380 and come down First Avenue, they'll get a good view of it - so it's a good spot for the community,” Gibbins said.

If you want to see the tree's lights come on, be downtown at 5 p.m. Saturday. The ceremony marks the opening of the Fire & Ice Festival, which will be followed by the holiday parade - and the arrival of Santa - at 6 p.m.