If you go What: Public memorial for a tree that was removed from the Whittier Neighborhood When: 11 a.m. Sunday Where: In the alley to the south of 2332 20th St. in Boulder

Residents of Boulder’s Whittier Neighborhood are planning to hold a memorial on Sunday morning for a 50-foot ash tree that was cut down earlier in the week by a homeowner who is scraping his house to make room for a larger one.

Brandon Geiger, who owns the property and existing house at 2332 20th St., had the towering tree removed by a contractor on Monday — much to the dismay of neighbors who hoped that the tree would be saved.

“There is just a feeling of grieving among the neighborhood here,” said John Spitzer, a board member with PLAN-Boulder County who lives across the street from the site.

He said neighbors are planning to gather in the alley to the south of the house at 11 a.m. Sunday to mourn the loss of the tree. The public is invited to attend.

Eric Jensen, who lives next door to the site, said he has lost shade but the neighborhood has lost a “beautiful old ash.”

“It was very upsetting,” he said of the tree being cut down.

Jensen said he’s especially upset because neighbors believed that the tree would be saved as part of the redevelopment plan.

Geiger said he wanted to keep the tree, but he was told by engineers the tree would soon become a safety hazard for both himself and his neighbors. He said he was “devastated” when they told him the tree would have to go.

Geiger said the tree used to provide shade for his backyard, and he originally hoped it would do the same for the patio he plans on adding to the new house.

“I was very, very torn up about having the tree taken out,” he said. “I did not want to see it go.”

Keenan Tompkins, owner of Cornerstone Contracting, said that every effort was made to save Geiger’s tree.

“The intent was we were going to try and save the tree,” Tompkins said.

The contractor said the plans for the new house were designed to go around the tree and that he consulted with certified arborists on three separate occasions about how to preserve it.

“They all did say there’s a risk that we could compromise the tree,” Tompkins said. “We started making a cut around the tree and the excavator became concerned about the root structure.”

After consulting again with tree experts, Tompkins believed that the tree was likely to fall over eventually and become a safety hazard, so the tree was removed.

“Nobody wanted to see that big old tree go,” Tompkins said. “It was going to be a great part of the property.”

He said the wood from the tree would be milled into hardwood flooring and installed inside the new house.

Elizabeth Lokocz, a landscape architect for the city who worked on Geiger’s development application, said the developer tried to preserve the tree to gain some of the required “green points” for new construction.

But, the city agreed the tree was a potential hazard to the foundations of both the existing house and the planned redevelopment.

“My opinion is that the tree was pretty compromised,” Lokocz said.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.