Farewell to the Honey Locust

Tree removal crews took down an old honey locust in the courtyard of St. Luke's on Monday. The tree had reached the end of its life, and its removal, reviewed and approved by the City of Evanston under its strict tree preservation ordinance, clears the way for a key piece of the ELEVATE Project.

The tree removal makes three things possible.



• A level, continuous walkway from the sidewalk to the new accessible entrance. The honey locust stood in the way of its planned route.

• Drainage. New sewer lines are going in underneath the courtyard to carry water away from the building, and the tree stood directly over their path.



• The design of the courtyard itself. The honey locust took up a large share of the courtyard's footprint. With it gone, the space can be renovated and planned as a whole, together with the memorial gardens, rather than designed around a declining tree.

Evanston's ordinance requires two trees to be planted to replace every one removed. The ELEVATE project plan calls for several more than that. The species have not been chosen yet, but in keeping with the city's Climate Action and Resilience Plan, the preference is for native, locally adapted trees, planted where their roots will stay well clear of the new sewer lines.

The honey locust is the second tree the courtyard has lost in recent years. A storm took the redbud in May 2025. Even so, the grounds will come out ahead. Between the replanting, the renovated courtyard, and the memorial gardens still to come, more will be planted than was lost,