The Otago Woodturners Guild is holding an exhibition at the Community Gallery in Dunedin, selling pieces made from trees cut down in George St.
Guild president Jonathan Leichter said Isaac Construction and a member of the Dunedin City Council contacted the guild and offered to donate the trees during the initial George St work.
"We met with them and walked up and down George St and identified the trees that were useful to us.
The trees were cut into appropriate sized sections for the guild and delivered to the guild’s workshop in South Dunedin.
Once word got out about the exhibition selling pieces made from the George St London plane and catalpa trees, they started flying out the door.
"People heard about it and they wanted a piece of Dunedin, a piece of the history of George St.
"They may not have been happy when the trees came down, understandably so, but they were very, very happy they gave those trees to us and they could have a second life as a memento in remembrance of George St."
The wood donated from George St was mainly made into serving platters and large fruit and salad bowls.
"They're very special pieces. They're not just bowls, they have a little spirit of George St in them."
Yesterday morning, only one piece from the George St trees was still available, described by Mr Leichter as a "big epic, monumental piece".
The piece was a large bowl made by Mr Leichter’s son, Sam, who made 15 pieces for the exhibition, including the large bowl which took him about 10 hours to complete.
The younger Mr Leichter worked as an electronic engineer and was introduced to wood turning as a hobby by his dad who offered to take him to a learners’ course.
"I figured ‘yeah, why not?’ and I've been doing it for five years since then.
"It’s nice I get to do something with my dad."
The guild would continue to sell pieces at the exhibition until Christmas Eve.
