Westminster’s tree canopy is one of the most iconic and beloved aspects of the School’s campus. Cultivating and maintaining a healthy and robust campus landscape is a core priority of the campus plan. While the plan focuses on providing community spaces, increased access for all, and more opportunities for our students and visitors to engage the landscape, every effort has been made to mitigate disturbance. The current construction planned will impact an estimated four percent of Westminster’s contiguous campus and two percent of our tree canopy. Approximately 400 trees of 6” caliper or greater will be removed.
While trees will be removed during construction, a significant number of new trees will be planted across the property. The new plantings have been carefully selected under the direction of the landscape architecture firm Andropogon. The plans developed by Andropogon include more than 450 new native trees and a robust assortment of understory native shrubs and development of the bosque with ground covers.
As we prepare for the start of construction, you may notice an increased number of markings throughout campus. These markings take many different forms, such as engineering tape and paint on the ground, trees, and structures. The markings help us indicate a variety of things including infrastructure, building placement, tree removal, and tree replacement. It is important to note that the markings serve as helpful planning tools and are subject to change.
