North Mantua Street takes motorists in and out of Kent, where a giant dirt pile rises above Davey Tree’s Science, Employee Education and Development, or SEED, campus.
There’s no giant mole on the loose, said Sandra Reid, Davey’s vice president of corporate communications and strategic planning, assuring people gathered for a recent Tap Talk at North Water Brewing Co.
It, and two or three more near it, are the result of Davey’s efforts to sculpt the former Oak Knolls Golf Course and Franklin Elementary School grounds into what amounts to a tree college. Combined, the dirt piles that amount to some 43,000 cubic yards of soil will remain right where they are until 2025.
What Davey has in mind is a true tree college, replete with specialized training and research facilities, labs and greenhouses, a container nursery and acres of test plantings. The goal, said Davey Public Relations Director Jennifer Lennox, is to ensure Davey continues to attract and retain the most qualified, well-trained employees possible.
Knowing expansion was on its horizon, Davey acquired the site, just about 190 acres, in 2017. Initial plans were fluid, but the company eventually arrived at the SEED campus concept and never looked back.
Those piles will be spread as topsoil and fill dirt, and to bring the property’s general elevation to the campus gateway on North Mantua Street. To keep erosion down, Davey will use its own drones to hydroseed the piles.
The star of the SEED campus will be the new Davey Institute, which will double the company’s classrooms to four, and will include space where some 300 people may gather for conferences or other events.
A key feature is Davey’s two-story-high indoor climbing center, which will house something akin to a large modular structure. Imagine it as a giant erector set, though Lennox insists it is anything but a toy. The metal structure can be configured in any number of ways, allowing linemen, firefighters and “anybody who needs to be aloft” to safely train year round, she said.
The building will also house Davey’s archives and increase the company’s ability to test soil and plants.
Determined to highlight sustainability, Davey’s plans are to manage all stormwater on site, and to install a 650-KW solar array that will provide power to the building.
“The idea is that the building is not drawing energy. We’re sending power back in,” she said. “We have charging stations that’ll be available; we’ll have low flow pump plumbing fixtures, bottle refill stations and LED lighting fixtures,” Reid said.
A circa-1890s barn that happened to be on the property was carefully dismantled. Once rebuilt, it will be repurposed as an event space. The building will look natural, but it, and the other buildings on the SEED campus, will actually be eight times more insulated than typical buildings are, Lennox said.
A gift to the community, too
Parts of the SEED campus will be open to the public, who may stroll in various garden areas.
“What was a priority was to share the space with the community, to give a legacy gift to the history of the company, and also to really be focused on training and educating the next generation of daily employees,” Lennox said.
A “four seasons” garden containing trees, lawns and landscaped beds will be sited at the property’s main gateway.
“It is designed to be annual and perennial. It’ll have seasonal color. The annual color will be updated with the seasons. The winter landscape will have some lighting displays and it will also be an opportunity to feature winter foliage,” she said.
Strolling on, visitors will see a water garden.
“We’re calling this a hidden gem. The water garden is designed to surprise and delight. It’ll take advantage of the existing topography and also, there’ll be a lot of water fall leading to a small pond. The pond will support typical aquatic plants and it’ll also encourage biodiversity,” Lennox said.
A pollinator garden designed to encourage hummingbirds, bees and butterflies is next and will dispel preconceptions that such gardens are untidy, she added.
“This will actually be organized such that it has an organized layout and it has color along with seasonal textures such as seed heads, in order to avoid any bare spots during the non-pollinator blooming times, the transitional times,” she said.
A less manicured area will be at the arboretum’s edge, adjacent to a multi-use trail that will come from the north, border the SEED campus, and may one day connect with other area bike and hike trails, she said.
Also on the SEED campus is what Reid called the “Davey Bog,” which she said is not to be confused with the Franklin bog, located on an as-yet unopened 58-acre preserve just north of the SEED campus.
Like other bogs in the county, the Davey Bog is a rare ecosystem in which plants not seen in other environments flourish. Created by kettle hole lakes formed by receding glaciers, bogs are low in oxygen and nutrients.
Few plants can survive in such acidic, waterlogged soil, but sphagnum moss and tamarack trees, more common to the upper parts of Canada and Alaska, are happy to call Portage County’s bogs home, Portage Park District Director Chris Craycroft said.
Once the SEED campus is open, visitors will eventually be able to access the Portage Park District’s nearby hiking trails, Craycroft said, highlighting a partnership the park organization has formed with Davey.
Almost 330 trees have already been planted throughout the arboretum, which accounts for about 30 acres of the SEED campus. Davey plans to add another 170 trees and shrubs of various species, Lennox said.
To discourage pranksters and vandals, security measures, including cameras, will be in place throughout the grounds, she added.
Reid also looks forward to the SEED campus hosting the International Tree Climbing Championship, which she said is the “Super Bowl” of tree climbing. The ITCC, a feature of the International Society of Arboriculture’s annual conference, draws tree climbers from around the world to compete in different climbing events.
Davey’s vision of the SEED campus as a legacy gift to Kent also includes providing space for career education students at Kent’s high school and interns from universities, including Kent State University.
Since Davey’s headquarters at 1500 N. Mantua St. is across the street from the SEED campus, Reid also highlighted ongoing but as yet inconclusive conversations with city officials about how employees and students may be able to safely cross the high-speed roadway.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.