The demolition of Boston Children's Hospital's Prouty Garden has begun, reports the The Boston Globe.
According to hospital spokesman Rob Graham, the garden is closed and workers have started removing trees and plants to prepare the area for construction. An 11-story clinical building — part of the hospital's $1 billion expansion plans — will replace the garden.
While the closure of the Prouty Garden was adamantly opposed by many families and a lawsuit was filed in an attempt to prevent the expansion, the state's Department of Public Health approved the hospital's construction plans in late October.
Many families and hospital visitors were upset by the alleged removal of one of the garden's most distinctive features: a 65-foot tall tree.
"It looks like they've completely taken down the dawn redwood tree, which for me is a symbol of the heart and soul of the hospital and what the hospital has been giving to the patients and families and staff," said Anne Gamble, an opponent of the expansion who started an online petition to save the garden.
Mr. Graham said in a statement the hospital has preserved statues, plants and other materials from Prouty Garden to use in new gardens developed during the construction process, according to the report.
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