New trees have been planted at Cal Poly Pomona to create a distinctive and colorful corridor to the heart of the campus. The 60 saplings along Kellogg Drive, from the 10 Freeway exit to Parking Lot C, are part of a $20,000 donation from the Chapman Forestry Foundation. An additional 30 trees will be planted in two groves near the freeway exit and at the intersection of Kellogg Drive and Red Gum Lane.
The Bradford pear trees, an ornamental variety that does not bear fruit, will bloom clouds of white flowers in the spring and will display fantastic colors in the fall.
“We wanted to develop an entrance and create a corridor to the campus,” says Richard Farmer, manager of landscape & auto shop services and a 1977 horticulture alumnus. “We’re always trying to put more flowering trees on campus, add more color and create a more beautiful environment.”
The trees will be nearly full grown, standing 20 to 25 feet, in four to five years, according to Farmer.
In addition to the Bradford pear trees on Kellogg Drive, the donation provides about $6,500 for new fruit trees at AGRIscapes, adding to the Farm Store’s produce selection. Some of the trees will be incorporated into the store’s U-Pick program, which allows customers to pick their own fruit.
The Chapman Forestry Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides student scholarships and supports tree-planting projects, is run by alumna Christie Chapman Billing (’79, foods & nutrition), whose late father, A. Dale Chapman, created the foundation and her husband John Billing (’72, urban planning, ’77, master’s in urban planning). Over the last 10 years, the foundation has donated more than $250,000 to student scholarships in the College of Environmental Design and to tree-planting projects at Cal Poly Pomona.
“The foundation planted its first tree at Cal Poly Pomona in the late ’90s,” John Billings says. Scores of Chapman Forestry Foundation trees are rooted around campus: along extension of Kellogg Drive in Innovation Village, on South Campus Drive to the University Housing Village and Farm Store, and within the campus’ Aratani Japanese Garden. The foundation has also allocated about $20,000 for trees around the new College of Business Administration buildings.
Cal Poly Pomona has embarked on a $150 million comprehensive fundraising campaign to ensure that a quality college education is within reach for future generations of students. The campaign will strengthen the university’s ability to provide a hands-on education, to prepare students for the changing demands of the workplace, and to increase research and scholarship opportunities. The fundraising campaign relies on the support of the entire campus community — from alumni to faculty and staff to friends of the university. For more information, visit https://campaign.cpp.edu/.