Some streets downtown will close Saturday for the replacement of the Toomer's Oaks.
The city will close Magnolia Avenue from College Street to Wright Street to replace the Magnolia Avenue Toomer's Oak. Magnolia will stay closed from 9 a.m. until the tree replacement is completed.
The southbound lanes of College Street will close between Magnolia Avenue and Thach Avenue at 9 a.m. until the replacement of the College Steet Toomer's Oak is complete.
The University will be replacing both trees at Toomer's Corner and replace them with new, live oaks Saturday. The Magnolia Avenue Oak was severely damaged by a fire in September, and the College Street Oak failed to take root, according to University horticulture professor Gary Keever.
"The College Street tree has failed to become established as you can see by dead branches at the top," Keever said. "If it had not been for the fire, though, we would have pruned those branches and continued nurturing both trees."
Auburn received two matching live oaks from Florida that will be used for the transplanting. Georgia-based Twelve Oaks Landscaping will perform the transplanting, according to campus planner Ben Burmester.
"These trees should work well," Burmester said. "They are smaller than the ones two years ago but are still large enough to look appropriate on the corner. We are committed to having vibrant trees on the corner for the Auburn Family."
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