Lemons into Lemonade

Parque de la Madre is a large public space across the Tomebamba river from Old Town. A couple of years ago the park underwent a major renovation, including underground parking, new playground and exercise equipment, a running track, and a large paved area for concerts and other events.

Overall the finished product is a big improvement, but excessive root disturbance and overzealous pruning caused too many old, beautiful trees to die. What to do?

City officials had a brilliant idea to turn the unsightly tree trunks into sculptures. Here's a "before" pic:

And examples of what skilled artists have produced:

Pretty cool, huh?