Pittsburgh crews harvest city's Christmas tree from Springdale

You’d believe a tree could fly in Springdale on Saturday morning.

Crews from the City of Pittsburgh’s Forestry Division, with help from Carl’s Tree Service and a police escort, took down a 43-foot blue spruce from the grounds of the former St. Alphonsus Church in the borough.

The tree was secured at the top, cut at the bottom and then lifted and swung over to a waiting flatbed for a journey directly to the City-County Building, where it will stand as this year’s Christmas tree.

Two other pines on the property along Lincoln Avenue were cut down Friday. They will be stripped and their branches, which will be used to fill in the blue spruce, said Lisa Ceoff, city forester.

“It ends up being the pretty perfect Christmas tree by the time it gets up and decorated,” she said.

This marks the third year in a row that Pittsburgh has obtained its Christmas tree from the church property in Springdale. Only a single, smaller spruce remains.

Before 2022, Pittsburgh typically got its Christmas tree from city neighborhoods, Ceoff said. Taking the trees from the church grounds in Springdale started after a city employee’s relative, who lives nearby, noticed them.

The blue spruce harvested this year is probably about as healthy as it can be, Ceoff said. Climate change is negatively affecting the trees, and if not cut down to be celebrated for Christmas it would have deteriorated to where it would have to be cut down anyway, she said.

The tree will be lit for Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night is Saturday, Nov. 23.

City crews ground the stumps of all three trees before leaving Saturday.

While they’re always looking year-round, Ceoff said the city will put a call out for the 2025 Christmas tree in July. Candidates are getting more difficult to find, not only for the tree, itself, but because it has to be in an accessible location for a crane and flatbed truck.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to find the perfect candidate next year,” Ceoff said.

If a better candidate isn’t found, the city could come back to Springdale next year for the one remaining spruce, even though at an estimated 38 feet it’s smaller than what’s wanted.

“I really don’t know. We might find the perfect tree next week,” Ceoff said. “At least there’s something we have as a fallback.”