Beloved giant Sequoia Legacy Tree in Visalia must come down due to infection and safety reasons

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Roots run deep on the corner of Acequia Avenue and Locust Street in Downtown Visalia.

The City's historic Sequoia Legacy Tree has been around for nearly a century.

The tree was 3 years old when it was planted right next to the post office in 1936.

The Visit Visalia Organization says for safety the tree must be removed because it's been battling a fungus infection.

"It very quickly made the tree die. You can see it from starting from the top down and the way that the fungus was growing in the way the tree was dying. We attempted to get it treated, so several months were spent on attempting to treat this one and try to reverse that process and it just wasn't effective," explains Suzanne Bianco with Visit Visalia.

She says sequoia trees aren't meant to live on the Valley floor.

Plus, the recent wet winters paired with very hot summers had an impact on the tree's health.

"It's sad to see it go but understand that it wasn't meant to live down here and so we're just happy that it had the time that it did and we were able to highlight it to our community to the visitors to our area," says Suzanne.

The Visalia Sequoia Legacy tree sits at 65-feet tall.

Visit Visalia says another interesting thing about the site is the pavement around the tree signifies General Sherman Tree's trunk, giving visitors a glimpse of what they will see once they head out to our local national parks.

"So the "aha" because when you are up in the park you can't really get next to the General Sherman, it's a protected item," mentions Visit Visalia's Executive Director, Sherrie Bakke.

Bakke says there are plans to repurpose the tree's wood and honor the site with something new.

Locals are welcome to share their ideas.

"It also gives us a whole new opportunity to provide some education about Visalia's role and our relationship to the national parks," explains Bakke.

A ceremony right next to the post office, on Locust and Acequia, will take place on Thursday at 4:00 P.M.

The public is invited to help pay tribute to the beloved local giant sequoia.

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