Dying Clovis Christmas tree cut down

The Christmas tree at Clovis Civic Center, weakened by the drought and browning and dying from a fungus attack, was cut down Wednesday morning.

The redwood, which was decorated each year as the centerpiece of a community lighting ceremony, has a canker fungus that is killing similar trees in the area.

The redwood was transplanted at the Civic Center in the late 1990s. At that time it was more than 20 feet tall. It was about 45 feet tall before it was cut down.

The city will replace the redwood with a deodar cedar, a tree with a better track record for drought tolerance, said Luke Serpa, Clovis’ public utilities director. That tree is scheduled to be moved from a city landscaped area near Temperance and Gettysburg avenues for planting on Thursday.

Clovis officials have said Civic Center’s Christmas event won’t be canceled. The lighting ceremony, scheduled for the first Monday night in December, will go on.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 9:17 AM with the headline "Dying Clovis Christmas tree cut down."