A new Burlington art installation will take the idea of a "street tree" and turn it on its side. Artist Nancy Winship Milliken, Eliot Lathrop and a team of engineers have come up with something they're tentatively calling the "Lakebones Archway," which will go up on a Main Street sidewalk sometime in late 2025. Milliken envisions creating a steel archway that will hold up a tree, preferably a black locust, laterally above the heads of people walking below. A pollinator garden will line either side of the sidewalk along the archway. The ideal tree would be fully intact, and will be placed with its crown facing east toward the mountains and the roots pointed toward Lake Champlain. Milliken said the sculpture is meant as a tribute to Burlington's history as a busy timber port. "In a perfect world, this specimen tree is going to be representational of all of what Vermont is: of the trees and the riparian forests," Winship said. The project is part of the city's Great Streets initiative, which aims to make roadways more appealing for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Mike and Tawyna Kiernan of Bee the Change will create the pollinator garden. But the team, which is working with Burlington City Arts, has a big challenge: They need to find the perfect tree. And it's not something they can just go cut down. They want to find a tree that was blown down, fell naturally or has to be removed for a development project. While black locust would be ideal because of its resistance to rot, the team is open to a white oak or cedar, as well. The specimen should have a trunk diameter of about two feet and be 30 feet tall. The steel portion of the sculpture cannot be fabricated until the tree is chosen, according to Milliken, so there is a bit of a time crunch. Colin Storrs, the public art and grants program manager at BCA, said the tree will be treated so it won't degrade for decades. "It's going to grab people's attention, that's for sure," he said. Got a great tree? Send an email to [email protected]. The original print version of this article was headlined "Timber Task" …