DAPHNE, Ala.—The Jubilee City lost a fixture Tuesday when Public Works employees were ordered to remove a dying oak tree from Centennial Park.

The city council approved the tree removal at its Monday business meeting under the guidance of city horticulturist Marshall Parsons.

The tree—more than 100 years old—was one of three oaks that shaded the park since its creation in the early 1980s.

Parsons spearheaded an in-depth analysis of the tree’s health; Gary Ickes of Ickes Tree Service conducted the study.

Using a strength-loss formula, Ickes found the oak to have lost more than 54 percent of its strength.

The cutoff point is 33 percent; any reading over that threshold requires immediate action.

Ickes, a certified master arborist and state-licensed tree surgeon, said he found that removing the tree from the park was the only option.

“Given the tree’s location and size, I do not see any possible abatement other than removal,” Ickes wrote in his report.

“The danger to the general public using the park around and under the tree should not be understated,” he said. “Until the tree is removed, I would suggest either restricting access in the target area or closing the park.”

Ickes performed a selection of tests to analyze the tree’s decaying health.

The first test he conducted was a “sounding,” which involves tapping the tree with a rubber mallet and listening for changes in tone in healthy and decayed parts of the wood. Decayed wood, when tapped, will make a hollow noise; healthy wood sounds full when hit with a mallet.

The “sounding” found that several of the tree’s roots on the east and north sides were decayed and hollow, which is common when a tree has large holes in its trunk.

Ickes also studied the tree with a Resistograph machine, testing the wood’s resistance to a drill bit.

Results of the Resistograph test confirmed that the tree had an unsafe proportion of decayed wood.

Having reportedly lost an overwhelming amount of its strength, the tree had become a danger to the community.

“I’m surprised the tree survived the recent string of hurricanes the past few years, considering how weak it is,” Parsons said.

The possibility of the tree falling on unsuspecting park guests reportedly had become a serious consideration.

But the likelihood of the tree falling was just one of the dangers it posed.

Three human-sized cavities had developed in the tree’s trunk. Over the years, many children had crawled inside the tree to play.

Parsons feared that a child—having climbed inside the tree—would have an unpleasant encounter with an animal or insect.

“Since I came to work here, I’ve said ‘that’s a dangerous tree,’” Parsons said.