By Harvey Rice

Workers aborted an attempt to lift the massive 100-year-old Ghirardi Oak from the ground Wednesday in League City, delaying its move to make way for a road-widening project.

“We are going to have to put a heavier crane together,” said Erik Hess, owner of the Ladera Ranch, Calif.-based Hess Landscape and Construction.

The weight of the tree, estimated at between 450 and 540 tons, set off a warning alarm on a 500-ton crane, said Hess, whose company is under contract with League City to move the tree.

The crane was to lift one side of a 30-foot-square wooden box holding the roughly 70-foot tree. A 640-ton crane was to lift the other side of the tree, located at FM 518 and Louisiana Street.

Hess said a part will be added to the smaller crane to boost its lift capability, and the two cranes will be moved closer to the tree.

Similar to shuttle move

Workers also must reposition 32-foot steel girders under the box that encloses the root ball in preparation for lifting it onto a steel plate.

The the move is, in some ways, similar to last week’s movement of a space shuttle replica from Florida to the Space Center Houston museum, said Scott Tuma, League City project manager. “It uses some of the same processes and coordination,” Tuma said.

The land donated for the tree’s new home is adjacent to the proposed Water Smart Park, city spokeswoman Kristi Wyatt said. Councilwoman Joanna Dawson said the deed transferring the land from the Ghirardi family to the city was signed Tuesday.

The move will cost about $200,000 from park dedication fees paid by developers, Dawson said.

Moving road too costly

The county’s original plans called for cutting down the historic oak to allow the widening of Louisiana Street.

“The engineering people wanted to cut the tree down but were afraid of the outcry, so they formed a committee made up of tree advocates and the Parks Department,” said Dawson. She was the city’s representative.

“For about nine months we tried to convince the powers that be to route the road around the tree, but the cost was just too high,” Dawson said.

The city finally decided to move the tree, based on a committee recommendation.

The tree, a Compton oak, is on land owned by Italian immigrants who developed truck farms in the area in the early 20th century, Dawson said. The oak sat in the front yard of Sebastian Ghirardi, recalled his great-nephew, Michael Ghirardi.

Michael Ghirardi said his uncle’s widow sold the land and the farmhouse was donated to the city museum. “My great-aunt and uncle would be amazed to see this,” Ghirardi said about the move.

harvey.rice@chron.com