Bala Cynwyd, Lower Merion Township, PA — A tsunami of outrage and concern was unleashed back in December 2018, when it was learned that a tree, that may have roots dating back to William Penn’s era, could be cut down to make room for a new office building at 401 City Avenue.

The tree which some historians estimate may be more than 300 years old is part of a building development plan that calls for it to be razed. In this plan, the ground where it sits would be paved over in some way.

Now the owners of the property have decided to try to hide the 89-foot tall tree from prying eyes that may or may not care about the tree's history.

Our newsletter delivers the local news that you can trust. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The tree has been placed in protective custody by the owners.

Visitors to the tree must register with the security desk at the property and request permission to visit. If the visit is granted you must agree not to take any digital images or pictures of the tree. You will be escorted to the tree by the folks from Universal Security.

Finding the Tree

Unless you know where the tree is you can spend time driving the property looking for it and still miss it. Which is exactly what I did a few weeks ago, with two burning questions I needed to answer:

How do you hide an 89-foot tall tree?





And why is the majestic oak tree on the endangered tree list?

Susquehanna International Group (SIG) is a fast-growing global trading and technology firm that wants to expand its corporate headquarters right here in Lower Merion. A new building with a multi-story parking garage linked by a pedestrian bridge is planned.

The parking lot and the area surrounding the tree would become ground zero. The tree would be cut down.

Lower Merion officials sent the initial development plan back for revisions to conform with the zoning code. Then last month, the Lower Merion Commissioners approved new zoning affecting the City Avenue area.

“The new zoning provides the developer with more options,” said Chris Leswing. Leswing is the

Director of Building and Planning for the Township. “Hopefully in the next few months when they do resubmit the plans, the tree may be saved. But we don’t know what will happen,” said Leswing.

No Pics Allowed

Should you wish to snap a picture of the tree and preserve its memory within your own collection of images, selfies, animated gifs, memes, and memories, permission must be given beforehand at the security desk. Beware even when you finally get this permission it may not last to the time that it takes to walk or drive to the tree.

In working on this story, the TAPinto team called and left numerous messages, sent emails and even used social media to get permission to visit and photograph the tree. We thought we would write an article about the owners perspective regarding their value to the people of Lower Merion.

SIG has touted on their own social media how involved they are in the local region, boasting that they are responsible for “creating 300+ local tech jobs since investing in our Philadelphia area portfolio companies.”

But the tree — which TAPinto first heard about when researching the company because Bloomberg Business News used it as the lead to introduce the company and its game theory business philosophy in a long-form feature on SIG — stands in the way of progress.

The Bloomberg story reads: “The only notable feature is in the parking lot: a large oak labeled a ‘significant tree’ because it survived the American Revolution.”

So TAPinto was on a mission to get a picture of this historic tree to frame the company’s progress around the parking lot’s own revolutionary legacy.

Finally, after weeks we just went to the building’s security desk and announced ourselves telling them we wanted to see and photograph the tree. Permission was granted after a couple of calls by security and we signed in.

“Use that door and the guard will meet you to escort you to the tree,” stated the well groomed and very official looking uniformed security person. So we left via the proper egress and true to form a guard drove up.

We followed him in our car to the majestic tree, its branches reaching to the sun since before electricity was invented.

Locals, environmentalists, and arborists are very displeased with the chance of killing the ancient tree. The possibility of its demise has even fueled a strident local campaign to save it. Residents, historians, preservationist are all watching and waiting to see how the saga plays out.

Experts have determined the tree is over 300 years old, which dates back to even before Penn’s arrival. The tree is classified as a “Penn Tree” and stands among only about 300 trees of its kind left alive today.

It only took a minute to weave through the tree-studded parking lot. I did notice that there was not one available parking spot in the lot; an obvious sign of SIG’s need to expand.

We arrived at the old oak tree and the guard got out of his car to watch us. While getting our camera equipment readied, the guard's cell phone rang. After a couple of uh-huh responses, the guard looked at us, shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and hung up.

“Permission rescinded you must leave the property,” he said.

Of course, I asked; “why?”

“I don’t know,” the man said. “This tree just has all of the higher-ups going crazy.”

The guard wished to remain anonymous. He is concerned about keeping his job.

The tree known as an overcup oak has hit such a raw nerve I am afraid the man may lose his job for talking to us. So I am protecting his identity. First a tree then a guard. Where was this heading?

Standing Out in a Crowd

The tree is located in a parking lot with an official address of 401 City Avenue. In that big lot which stretches around the back of the buildings, the stately elder tree is surrounded by many other fellow trees. It is in the back and sits closer to Monument Avenue or Presidential Blvd than City Avenue. It would be readily Identifiable, though, if the parking lot were empty.

And it’s got local residents curious.

“We are escorting people off this property every day, they all come about the dang tree,” he said. It is private property and you must have permission to be here, even in the parking lot.

I looked for Private Property signs, of which there are very few. But there are signs at the two main entrances to the parking lot. They could be easily missed yet they are there.

“I never saw anything like it,” the guard said of the furor over this tree.

We both chuckled. I thanked him for his time and left.

Want to stay informed on what's happening in your town? Have Lower Merion & Narberth news delivered directly to your inbox click e-News.

Related Stories

Stop the Growth in Lower Merion? Is Residential Building Too Much? Commercial Not enough?

Bala Cynwyd Firm is Major Player in Local Tech Sector and ETF Trading