The bank is gone, but the sinkhole is still there, and so are many creeks in the neighborhood.
SunTrust Bank’s St. Elmo branch closed last week after 66 years in operation. Earlier this year bank officials filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Chattanooga, alleging the city did not properly maintain storm sewer lines that run under the property. Those sewer lines may have been responsible for the sinkhole that opened up on the property in 2013, but bank officials stated that the lawsuit and the sinkhole are unrelated to the bank’s closing.
While some area residents may feel like the sewer and sinkhole issues are concerns of the city and the bank, local resident and business owner Alan Field disagrees. He maintains that a creek running under the bank is responsible for the sinkhole. There are many more natural creeks in the neighborhood that should be considered, especially as more development moves into the area with the extension of the Tennessee Riverwalk, he said.
“Creeks aren’t as simple as you think they are,” said Field. “We’re burying them, we’re piping them and we’re throwing trash in them.”
He is working with a small group of residents to develop a map of all the creeks in the neighborhood, including those that are the result of wet weather or that come into St. Elmo as runoff from the mountain.
“We’re hoping to get more knowledge about what we have here and what we don’t have here,” Field said.
Knowing what to look for with creeks can be difficult for people who aren’t familiar with them, so the group launched a website that provides tips on identifying creeks and serves as a networking mechanism. Members of the group may never meet in person if they are using the website, Field said. Eventually, he even hopes to place tracking devices in the creek beds that can transmit a signal when water is flowing through them.
For more information or to join the group, visit thecreeksofsaintelmo.com.