New biology building may put trees at risk

In a February meeting with members of the science faculty, Associate Provost for Science & Technology James Slattery presented tentative plans for the new Yale Biology Building, a multifunctional facility slated to be built in the footprint of the J.W. Gibbs Laboratory on Science Hill. When professor of biology Sidney Altman asked about what would happen to the surrounding trees four massive oaks alongside the Gibbs laboratory the response by the associate provost stuck with him.

I asked Slattery specifically about [the trees], Altman said. And he had no emotion when he said they are going to be cut down.

Slattery declined to comment.

According to molecular biophysics and biochemistry and physics professor Jonathon Howard, who serves on the building planning committee, planning is still in its early stages and there is no formalized design for the building. Still, he said it is quite possible that the trees between Gibbs and the Whitney Avenue Lot 22 parking lot would have to be removed to accommodate the larger footprint of the new building.

I am a great tree lover dont get me wrong, I love trees but on the other hand, this is going to be an absolutely fantastic opportunity for biology at Yale, Howard said.

To some faculty, the fate of the four trees two of which predate the 1955 construction of Gibbs is just one issue in a host of roadblocks that have delayed the construction of the project for over a decade. After two different building designs, construction was set to begin in early 2008 on the parking lot but was postponed with the onset of the global financial crisis. Seven years later, the University has largely scrapped the 2008 design and now plans to break ground on the site of the soon-to-be demolished Gibbs Laboratory, with an August 2019 deadline for completing the building in mind.

Provost Benjamin Polak said in December that the decision to relocate the building made sense because the Gibbs building is at the end of its practical life and would eventually need to be torn down. He added this new location would facilitate closer connections to other departments on Science Hill.

But throughout the redesigns and relocations, one thing had previously been non-negotiable: The trees would have to stay.

We were told that we had to protect the trees, so we worked around them, said molecular, cellular and developmental biology professor Thomas Pollard, former chair of the MCDB Building Committee and former dean of the Graduate School. We were told that we couldnt touch the trees.

That, however, appears to have changed.

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New biology building may put trees at risk