LEARNING HOW THE CITY’S FORESTRY DIVISION IS GETTING INVOLVED. RIGHT HERE IN THIS AREA IS WHERE THE NFL DRAFT STAGE WILL SIT. BUT IN ORDER FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, MANY OF THESE TREES HERE WILL HAVE TO COME DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NFL DRAFT STAGE. THAT’S NOT FUN. I MEAN, WE WANT TO GROW MORE TREES. WE WANT MORE GREENERY AROUND HERE. IS THIS JUST FOR THE DRAFT? OH, THAT’S NO GOOD. I MEAN, THAT’S JUST A THREE DAY EVENT, BUT THESE TREES HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A WHILE. WE WANT THEM TO GROW IN BLOOM. I THINK THERE’LL BE LOTS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE UPSET. IT’S SAD. ANYTIME YOU SEE A TREE THAT’S GROWING, YOU KNOW, TO BE REMOVED. BUT IN THIS INSTANCE, TO MAKE WAY FOR THE NFL DRAFT, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN. NOTICES ARE POSTED ON EACH OF THE ROUGHLY 100 TREES THAT WILL BE TAKEN DOWN TO ACCOMMODATE THE NFL DRAFT. THEY SPENT ALMOST TWO BLOCKS ALONG WEST GENERAL ROBINSON STREET AND ALSO ALONG ROONEY DRIVE, WHERE THE DRAFT THEATER WILL STAND. LISA CHAFFEE IS THE CITY FORESTER WHO SAYS A FORMULA WILL BE USED TO REPLACE MANY OF THE TREES AFTER THE DRAFT. HERE’S HOW IT WORKS. HOWEVER, MANY INCHES ARE REMOVED FROM A TREE’S BASE. A NEW TREE HAS TO BE EQUAL IN INCHES. IF THE NEW TREE IS SMALLER THAN THE ONE IT’S REPLACING, THE DIFFERENCE WILL BE MADE UP WITH AN ADDITIONAL TREE ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY. SO THOSE TREES WILL BE PLANTED RIGHT BACK INTO THESE LOCATIONS. PERHAPS IN LARGER TREE SIZES. BUT THE REMAINING TREES, 200 PLUS WILL GO OUTSIDE THE CITIES INTO THE PARKS. ALSO TONIGHT, PITTSBURGH PARKS CONSERVANCY, AS WELL AS THE WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONSERVANCY, ARE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PLAN TO REMOVE AND THEN REPLACE THE TREES COVERING AL
One-hundred trees will be removed to make room for NFL Draft Theater on North Shore
Updated: 6:55 PM EDT Mar 10, 2026
Construction for the NFL Draft Theater is scheduled to begin on March 25, but before it is completed, the Pittsburgh Local Organizing Committee says dozens of trees will be taken down to accommodate theater space.Notices have been posted on trees along Art Rooney Drive and West General Robinson Street that are marked for removal.City Forester Lisa Ceoffe says many of the trees will be replaced after the draft, at least 57 in the immediate area along West General Robinson Street and Art Rooney Avenue. “It will lose the canopy that’s here currently, but it gives us the opportunity to reimagine the space,” she said. “Right now, the trees that are here are in smaller tree pits, so we’ll have larger tree pits.”Ceoffe says the master plan is to add more trees in the city and county, in addition to replacing the trees that will be removed for the draft. “So those trees will be planted right back into these locations, and perhaps some larger treatment sizes, but the remaining trees, 200 plus, will go outside the city, into the parks,” she said.NFL Draft organizers expect up to 700,000 people to attend the three-day event, April 23-25.
PITTSBURGH —
Construction for the NFL Draft Theater is scheduled to begin on March 25, but before it is completed, the Pittsburgh Local Organizing Committee says dozens of trees will be taken down to accommodate theater space.
Notices have been posted on trees along Art Rooney Drive and West General Robinson Street that are marked for removal.
City Forester Lisa Ceoffe says many of the trees will be replaced after the draft, at least 57 in the immediate area along West General Robinson Street and Art Rooney Avenue.
“It will lose the canopy that’s here currently, but it gives us the opportunity to reimagine the space,” she said. “Right now, the trees that are here are in smaller tree pits, so we’ll have larger tree pits.”
Ceoffe says the master plan is to add more trees in the city and county, in addition to replacing the trees that will be removed for the draft.
“So those trees will be planted right back into these locations, and perhaps some larger treatment sizes, but the remaining trees, 200 plus, will go outside the city, into the parks,” she said.
NFL Draft organizers expect up to 700,000 people to attend the three-day event, April 23-25.