BEND, OR -- Crews continue to clean up the mess left when a large tree fell at the Bend-La Pine Education Center. The white fir stood next to the administrative building on NW Wall for at least a hundred years; it came down during the storm that blew through downtown Bend Sunday night, damaging the steps and entrance on the west side of the building.
Alandra Johnson, with the district, mourns the loss of the tree, but acknowledges it could've been worse. "We're just really happy that, even though this tree feel down, no one was injured, and our building is intact. That entrance is closed, but we're going to be - it's going to be okay." The building is expected to remain open during repairs.
The tree can be found in old photos of downtown Bend. "It was approximately 50-feet tall, and from historic photos, it appears to have been original to the construction of the building. The building was built in 1917 and it appears like the tree was standing at that time; so it was a pretty old tree."
No word yet on what will become of the leftover wood.
Photo circa 1940, courtesy of the Deschutes County Historical Society
