South Pittsburg axes ginkgo trees on Cedar Avenue

Attached photos of the ginkgo trees in downtown South Pittsburg. Some that have been cut down after they died, and some that are damaging the surrounding concrete.
Attached photos of the ginkgo trees in downtown South Pittsburg. Some that have been cut down after they died, and some that are damaging the surrounding concrete.

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - June was not a good month to be a tree in downtown South Pittsburg.

City leaders for years have debated problems with the Chinese ginkgo trees that were planted along both sides of Cedar Avenue downtown in the late 1990s.

In late June, newly hired City Administrator Gene Vess ended the debate abruptly.

"Yes, we took the trees down," Vess said at the South Pittsburg City Commission's July meeting. "If you went around town and after we started cutting the trees down, we really realized just exactly how bad they were."

He said some of the trees had grown into the sidewalk grates and buckled the concrete in many spots.

Some residents are not pleased with the results.

"I and several people in this room are very distressed to see our trees go," resident Carolyn Millhiser said. "I understand all the logic, all the reasons, but now we're faced with a barren street with facades that need help."

She suggested the city start a campaign to encourage downtown businesses to "lighten and brighten themselves."

Officials thought they would be able to cut down the trees and dig out the stumps rather quickly, but Vess said that's not going to happen yet because electrical lines are buried underneath the root systems.

"We're at a point right now that we can't even deal with the stump," he said. "We're going to have to figure another way, some other solution, as to how we're going to be able to kill that stump."

Vess said the sidewalk would need repairs anyway because some tree roots have pushed up the concrete.

One resident said there is an area outside a senior apartment building where there is a 2-inch difference in the concrete slab's height.

"I have myself seen four people fall at that place," the resident told city leaders. "Are you going to do anything about that?"

Mayor Virgil Holder said city workers will have to remove the trees and kill the roots before repairs can be made.

"Instead of going in and ripping everything out and costing us a lot of money, there are some companies that level concrete, and so we're looking to see if that's a possibility to save some money," he said.

There are "several places" along the sidewalks that have similar problems, Holder said.

"We are working on that," he said. "I've kind of skipped across it [the spot described] a time or two myself, so I understand. I certainly do."

Holder encouraged the resident to "keep hollering" about the issue and to not "let it die."

"We're not going to leave it like this," Vess said. "We are going to make it decorative. We're going to fix it up. We've been looking at some things like what we can grow that's smaller and how we can make it more attractive. You're talking about things that's been there nearly 20 years. Maybe it was time for a face lift."

Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.

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