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An ancient red cedar that has towered over the West Coast for centuries has withstood some of nature's most brutish attacks.

Now, the fate of Stanley Park's hollow tree - whose gaping, empty trunk has been the backdrop of thousands of family portraits dating back to a time when horse-drawn carriages would back into it - is in the hands of man, and will be decided Monday.

From the looks of it, this is it for one of Vancouver's most recognizable icons.

Loretta Woodcock, one of seven Vancouver Park Board commissioners who will be casting votes either for or against a staff recommendation to take the tree down, said the general sentiment on the board is that it's time the hollow tree is "laid to rest."

"The 'Hollow Tree' has become a safety risk for the hundreds who stand in front of it to take photos," staff write in the report, which notes the tree's 13-metre snag, which refers to a standing, partly or completely dead tree, is currently held up by a series of cables, bolts and braces. An option to install large steel braces both within it and around it is also to be considered.

"Part of the charm of the tree was the fact that you could stand in front of the tree, or underneath the tree or inside the tree, and you could take pictures," Ms. Woodcock said yesterday. "They're not going to be able to do that if it's to be girded with steel braces. It would take away that natural aspect of the tree."

The hollow tree, which is believed to have stood for more than 1,100 years, has been leaning to one side since powerful windstorms whipped through Stanley Park in 2006, downing thousands of living trees. Those winds may have been the final blow to the tree, which in the past century alone, has survived earthquakes, fires, lightning strikes and hurricane-force winds when other trees around didn't.

But while the hollow tree has been dead for decades (hemlocks growing around it give it the appearance that it's still alive), rotting from the inside out as cedars do, city officials have tried to keep it standing, and have been studying various options for the past year.

"Money was never an issue. We've spent much more than the $200,000 [the steel braces would cost] to look at our options to save this tree," Ms. Woodcock said, adding the eastern half of the root flair has rotted away, the 13-metre trunk is cracked vertically and separated in places, and the metal braces and bolts that have been installed over the years aren't enough to keep the trunk together.

Staff have concluded the best legacy would be to cut the hollow tree down and lay it along the park ground in two pieces that visitors can walk through like a tunnel. A 20-centimetre stump would remain, and staff have suggested planting a new cedar at its centre.

"People across Canada love this tree like a person, and I think they would like to see this tree honoured like a person, instead of put on display like some freak of nature," Ms. Woodcock said.

Timothy Taylor, who wrote the book Stanley Park, refers to himself as one of the "most nostalgic Stanley Parkers" around, but agrees the hollow tree needs to be brought down.

"Considering it stopped being a tree many years ago, and became a kind of tree memorial, which is now falling over, I think it's probably time to move on."

But John Atkin, an author and historian who has been conducting walking tours of Vancouver for more than two decades, isn't ready to see it go.

"When Stanley Park was first created, the Canadian Pacific Railway surveyor L. A. Hamilton surveyed a road right around the edge of the park. People used to take their wagons out and there was this cedar tree that had just had this fire and was hollowed. People used to stand in front of it and pose, ever since Day 1 in 1888, and continue to do so," he said.

"So even though it's just sort of a bit of a stump and it's wrecked and held up by metal bars, it's just one of those things about Vancouver."