Workers at Langley City Hall have removed the green “collegiate cloak” of ivy from the city’s signature public building.

The wall of ivy on the building, which is really three different species, including the noxious weed English Ivy, has been damaging the brick fascia.

According to Frank Sullivan and Brian Hamilton of the Public Works Department, persistent tendrils found their way into minute cracks in the mortar joints and into vents, windows, gutters and roofing, exposing these areas to water damage.

Langley officials said further damage to the fragile brick fascia, gutters and eaves has been halted and the west side of City Hall can now be seen once again as the Masons built it in 1948.