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Chopped Down City Park Trees Get New Life As Art

DENVER (CBS4)- Students are giving new life to trees removed during renovations at City Park Golf Course. More than 200 trees were cut down, despite neighbors' protests to keep them alive.

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Artist and Denver native Darrell Anderson, in partnership with Saunders Construction and CherryArts, created a project to repurpose some of the tree wood.

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Darrell Anderson (credit: CBS)

According to Anderson's website, the aim of The Art of Community project is unification: "supporting our local neighborhoods, creating a sense of coming together and forging engagement with Denver's next generation of artistic leaders."

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The wood being used is familiar to Anderson. He watched the trees go down from his home in the City Park neighborhood. Hundreds of trees were cut down in order to collect storm water and protect homes from flooding.

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"Being an artist, I wondered how I could repurpose the trees. What better way to re-purpose them than with the students?" said Anderson.

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Darrell Anderson (credit: CBS)

A group of students from St. Elizabeth's were invited to join Anderson's project on Friday. He provided them with pieces of wood from the City Park Golf Course trees. They also used donated art supplies to spruce up their creations.

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"I still hear from neighbors, 'You know Darrell, those trees were the best deal," said Anderson.

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City Park neighborhood residents still mourn those loss of those century-old trees, but Anderson says many are happy they're in much younger hands.

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(credit: CBS)

LINK: Darrell Anderson

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