Trees, Trees, Trees

[austinred]

I was watching some of the UL LAF (A.K.A. "You'll Laugh" and "OHH LA LA") vs Ole Miss baseball regional tonight and the UL LAF baseball stadium has pine trees growing outside the outfield fences. It looked really good. I've always wondered why LU doesn't plant more trees around campus. One thing you can do in Southeast Texas better than just about any other place in the country is grow trees. Beaumont's annual average rainfall is 58.03 inches, vs 40.55 inches for Seattle, 44.35 inches for Portland, Oregon and 49.16 inches for Portland, Maine. A row of pine trees outside the baseball outfield wall and maybe a few rows of pine trees between the football stadium and Mobile Oil. What do you think. Let's get up a campaign to plant trees.

[LUSportsFan]

I like it. Sounds like a good idea.

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[Big T]

The only reason you would have trees at stadium is to be used as a wind blocker. Lamar already has 16 ft. high fences that do this job. Added on top of that, because the fences are so high the effect of the trees aesthetically would be lost. You would not be able to see the majority of the trees just the tops. You can't take down the top of the fence because the advertisement there is here Lamer gets a lot of their revenue. Overall, I think it would be a waste of money. Now, I would be al for planning some outside of the stadium around the perimeter to help spruce up the entirety of the property that the field is located on.

[LUSportsFan]

[quote author=Big T link=topic=39107.msg58854#msg58854 date=1402411066]
The only reason you would have trees at stadium is to be used as a wind blocker. Lamar already has 16 ft. high fences that do this job. Added on top of that, because the fences are so high the effect of the trees aesthetically would be lost. You would not be able to see the majority of the trees just the tops. You can't take down the top of the fence because the advertisement there is here Lamer gets a lot of their revenue. Overall, I think it would be a waste of money. Now, I would be all for planting some outside of the stadium around the perimeter to help spruce up the entirety of the property that the field is located on.
[/quote]

That is what I envisioned. It's pretty bare around a lot of Vincent-Beck, the Soccer stadium, the site of the upcoming Softball stadium, and the driving range...that side of Jim Gilligan Way in general. That's also one of the first views of the campus from Cardinal Freeway.

[eagle eye]

Growing trees is not just for wind blocks, it's also for shade, beauty of the landscape, to help defeat some of the heat of the SE Texas sun beating down on the paved areas. You know why the Woodlands is far and away better than Ford Park Amphitheater? It's because it's built with trees and grass and bushes around it. From the parking areas to the arena. That's why you cook at Ford Park and you can tolerate the Woodlands even in August. The radiant heat off the asphalt and concrete raise the temperature by 5-10 degrees at Ford Park. The soft ball complex is the same. Greenery would help tremendously and make the stadium area look a lot better as well. Awesome idea austinred. I'm definitely in on trees and foliage and grass. Add to that a covered seating area that's done with some style and you've got some enticement for players to want to play a nice facility that the school obviously values. Just like fine dining, it's all in the presentation. Make it look beautiful and pleasant to go to then players and fans alike will be more likely to go to Lamar softball (and baseball) games. I guarantee you nobody wants to go and cook under the blazing hot sun on metal benches that cook your behind. Look at the landscaping around the football stadium. It enhances the look of the stadium and it gives you a feeling of pride to go there. IMO there should be even more trees and greenery. Like for instance some tall cypress trees of palm trees to block the view of the Mobile refinery behind the stadium. Add to the landscaping around the stadium including trees because in September into mid October it is freaking hot and more trees can't hurt. I haven't been to UT but I have been to TAMU and the trees and grass around it huge for tailgating and just walking to the stadium.

[coachacola]

[quote author=eagle eye link=topic=39107.msg58859#msg58859 date=1402425125]
Growing trees is not just for wind blocks, it's also for shade, beauty of the landscape, to help defeat some of the heat of the SE Texas sun beating down on the paved areas. You know why the Woodlands is far and away better than Ford Park Amphitheater? It's because it's built with trees and grass and bushes around it. From the parking areas to the arena. That's why you cook at Ford Park and you can tolerate the Woodlands even in August. The radiant heat off the asphalt and concrete raise the temperature by 5-10 degrees at Ford Park. The soft ball complex is the same. Greenery would help tremendously and make the stadium area look a lot better as well. Awesome idea austinred. I'm definitely in on trees and foliage and grass. Add to that a covered seating area that's done with some style and you've got some enticement for players to want to play a nice facility that the school obviously values. Just like fine dining, it's all in the presentation. Make it look beautiful and pleasant to go to then players and fans alike will be more likely to go to Lamar softball (and baseball) games. I guarantee you nobody wants to go and cook under the blazing hot sun on metal benches that cook your behind. Look at the landscaping around the football stadium. It enhances the look of the stadium and it gives you a feeling of pride to go there. IMO there should be even more trees and greenery. Like for instance some tall cypress trees of palm trees to block the view of the Mobile refinery behind the stadium. Add to the landscaping around the stadium including trees because in September into mid October it is freaking hot and more trees can't hurt. I haven't been to UT but I have been to TAMU and the trees and grass around it huge for tailgating and just walking to the stadium.
[/quote]

+1

[austinred]

So how do we make this happen? Does anyone have contacts with the LU Administration? I bet alumni would donate $ to adopt trees planted on campus.

[LAZEEK]

I like the idea, but trees are not cheap. We just had some trees transplanted from one piece of property to another piece of property. Trees we got were FREE, and are pines that are approximately 20-25 feet tall. Cost to transplant them was about $500 per tree.

[LUSportsFan]

Probably a little off the wall, but it might be an opportunity for companies with a large presence in the local area like MeadWestvaco, Temple-Inland, and International Paper. Unless things have changed since I moved away, a lot of the forests in the area are timber plantations managed by the companies.

Not saying to use their timber...just recognizing the connection and offering them an opportunity to get some positive PR.

Could even put up signs recognizing donations. In west Harris County, we have signs at many of major intersections pointing out tree plantings in the divided street medians. We'll have some nice streets with large live oaks many years from now. (Right now the medians are loaded with "juvenile" live oaks.)

Another idea might be something like Eagle Scout projects or Arbor Day projects. That way folks at the grass roots level could contribute. That type of contribution could be coordinated with the University landscapers. One of the energy companies I worked for in Houston had an environmental day each year in conjunction with Earth Day. For one day of each year, employees had an opportunity to participate in projects much like the one proposed in this thread on the company's dime. It was a win-win-win. The company got to give back to the community, the employees got to interact with each other in a different setting as well as just an overall good feeling, and the recipient got some free labor.


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[eagle eye]

It just takes some "want to" and from what I've seen in this thread there is not only some want to but there are some good ideas to float around to finance the deal without the university being out of pocket. As LUSportsFan said, win-win-win.
As to the how do we communicate this? Doesn't Chad Cooper post here? I haven't seen him post lately but as a member of the media he could give this some life. As far as getting the notions of this thread to the right people can Mike or one of the other site administrators bring it to the AD and the construction committee and even to the Lamar Board of Regents and the university president? Maybe we could form a petition and for those interested we could donate some time to circulate the petition on campus and in the community. I'm not kidding here. I am so tired of seeing the projects in this area fall short because they wanted to save a buck or thought, "That's good enough.". First class doesn't necessarily have to be expensive. Home improvement shows show us all the time you can make something nice that doesn't have to cost an arm or a leg.
The one place you can say they did right was the football stadium. That place took an old run down rat trap and made it something this university and this community can be proud of. It doesn't mean a little extra here and there can't make it better and we should demand no less from the new softball stadium and a potential upgrade at The Beck. There just has to be someone (us maybe) with enough "want to" to make our voices heard.

[badndn]

You want to spruce up the Beck and the new Softball Park...Move or Hide the Substation!