Spenard palm tree to be resurrected by end of month

On Sept. 6, The Nave — an event venue in Anchorage — posted a Facebook photo of the large, palm tree-shaped sign that once stood on Spenard Road for decades, captioned: “We hear an old friend of ours is getting ready to come out of hiding.”

The Northern Light investigated the post’s claim, which led reporters to the tree’s current owner, Cindy Berger, who has spent years advocating to bring it back to the neighborhood.

Berger spoke to The Northern Light about the history of the iconic tree, the legal battle to bring it back and its impact on the community.

Berger said the palm tree was built and designed by a local family about 40 years ago as part of the Tiki Lounge on Spenard Road — later known as the Paradise Inn.

“It was just one of their funny little things — you know, they thought it was hysterical to build this 33-foot metal palm tree and put it in front of the Tiki Lounge,” she said.

Berger said the Tiki Lounge was eventually sold by the family to a new owner, but the business declined due to crime and neglect. 

As a result, the property was seized by a federal marshal and put up for auction approximately a decade ago. Berger said she became interested in purchasing the property and the tree around that time.

She said that while federal marshals were seizing the property, they hired a cleaning company to clean it up. Berger said the company removed the palm tree claiming it was garbage, but actually intended to keep it.

“They removed it without the federal agent's permission,” she said. “They took it out back into the valley and hid it.”

Berger said she argued with the federal agent that the palm tree had to be returned because it was considered “property that runs with the land,” meaning it is legally a part of the property.

“The federal agents didn't end up doing the work to get the palm tree back — it actually went to court,” she said.

Berger said a judge decided the palm tree had to be returned to whoever purchased the building. The Spenard Community Council eventually secured possession of the tree, and Berger bought the property.

“Spenard Community Council, which was in stewardship of the palm tree, actually sold me the palm tree for a dollar so that I would repatriate it to the corner,” she said. 

Berger said after years of effort, she plans to have the tree back up by the end of the month.

“It's been a long time coming, but it is going to go back to the corner, and there are, you know, a lot of people are involved in trying to get that palm tree back,” she said. “I've got an architect hired, I have a landscaper hired, I need an electrician for it, I need a pile driver. So, you know — it's all coming together.”

In response to a question about the palm tree’s significance, and why she went through such effort for it, Berger said, “I always thought it was hysterical that the palm tree was there. You know, it's just this nonendemic palm tree, and I just appreciated the kitsch of it.”

“I think, particularly, the Spenard community really just sort of loves the fun grittiness of that kind of stuff,” she said. “It just felt to me that the palm tree needed to be there, and that it should be there.”

“And so, yeah, I did fight hard to get it back for the corner,” said Berger. “I think it had a story and it deserves to be, you know, resurrected and repatriated.”