IT'S THIS GREAT LEGEND THAT THERE ARE ALL OF THESE BUILDINGS THAT IF YOU GO INTO THEIR
BASEMENTS YOU KNOW, YOU SEE WINDOWS LOOKING OUT INTO NOTHING. YOU KNOW, AND YOU SEE ALL
THE GREAT ARCHITECTURE OF A 19TH CENTURY FIRST FLOOR THAT'S DOWN THERE. YOU CAN'T LOOK INTO
THE HISTORY OF CHATTANOOGA, DOWNTOWN, WITHOUT AT SOME POINT STUMBLING ACROSS THIS UNDERGROUND IDEA.
WHEN I STARTED DOING TALK RADIO, IT CAME UP AS A TOPIC A COUPLE OF TIMES. PEOPLE
WOULD CALL AND SAY "WHAT HAVE YOU EVER HEARD? WHAT'S THE TRUTH? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
IT?" SO UM, GOT INTRIGUED, AND ROB GENTRY WHO WAS THE BREWMASTER AT THE TIME AT BIG
RIVER GAVE ME THE INVITE, AND WE WENT DOWN. CELL PHONES WERE STILL NOT EXACTLY, NOT EVERYBODY
HAD THEM. SOMEBODY HAD ONE AND I SAID "YOU WANT ME TO CALL IN?" JAY SCOTT, THE JAMMER
WAS ON THE AIR AND I SAID THIS IS COOL I'M GONNA CALL IN AND SEE IF WE CAN GET A SIGNAL,
AND HE SAID "YEAH LET'S DO IT, LET'S GO ON THE AIR." AND I JUST DESCRIBED WHAT I SAW
AND AFTER THAT IT JUST KIND OF BLEW UP, I MEAN PEOPLE WANTED TO TAKE TOURS. UNDERGROUND
CHATTANOOGA IS A PROPOSAL TO EXPLAIN THE STRUCTURE OF THE CITY AND THE PROPOSAL THAT I'M FAMILIAR
WITH IS THAT BECAUSE OF FLOODING THE GRADE OF THE ENTIRE CITY WAS RAISED IN A CRITICAL
AREA THAT WAS PRONE TO FLOODING. SO WE HAD SIGNIFICANT FLOODS, THE WORST WAS 1867, RIGHT
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, BUT WE HAD ABOUT EVERY DECADE, 1870'S, 1880'S THERE WAS A COUPLE,
1890'S THERE WAS ONE, THE OTHER REALLY BIG ONE, 1917 WAS A BIG FLOOD DOWNTOWN. FIRST
FLOORS OF BUILDINGS ALL THE WAY TO THE READ HOUSE WERE SUBMERGED. SO IT PUT A DAMPER ON
THE ATTEMPTS TO DEVELOP CHATTANOOGA. THE ALTERNATIVE IDEAS WAS TO PUT A LEVVY AROUND ROSS' LANDING
AND PREVENT THE WATER FROM COMING IN THAT WAY. AND THAT WOULD HAVE CUT OFF THE RIVER
I MEAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TECHNICALLY AND PRACTICALLY IN TERMS OF THE ECONOMY, THAT
WAS A NON-STARTER. BY THE 1880'S THE CITIZENS WERE SO FRUSTRATED WITH THE FREQUENT FLOODING
THAT THEY DECIDED TO BUILD-UP THE CITY STREETS. I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE
THERE ARE TO MY KNOWLEDGE NO FIRM RECORDS THAT WOULD OBJECTIVELY SHOW HERE'S WHAT WE
DID AND WHEN WE DID IT, BUT MOST PEOPLE HAVE SAID THIS WAS DONE SOMETIME IN THE LATE 1880'S.WHAT
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS RE-PURPOSING WHAT'S ALREADY THERE. THE BASEMENT- WHAT USED TO
BE THE FIRST FLOOR, SO FIRST FLOOR IS NOW THE SECOND FLOOR AND THE BASEMENT IS WHAT USED
TO BE THE FIRST FLOOR. I THINK THE BIGGEST AREA WHERE UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA IS, IS REALLY
IN THE VICINITY OF 7TH, BETWEEN 6TH AND 8TH STREET, AND CHERRY STREET TO MARKET STREET,
IS THAT LITTLE FOUR OR FIVE BLOCK AREA WHERE YOU REALLY SAW BUILD-UP. THE PROBLEM WITH
THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA IS THAT IT'S PIECEMEAL. IT'S NOT CONTINUOUS, IT'S
NOT LIKE UNDERGROUND ATLANTA. SO IT'S BITS AND PIECES SO IT'S REAL HARD TO GET A HANDLE
ON. AS I'LL TELL PEOPLE, THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS IN CHATTANOOGA THAT ARE UNDERGROUND,
AND THEY'RE IN CHATTANOOGA, BUT THEY'RE NOT UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA. I DO NOT BELIEVE
THAT THE SPORTS BARN AND THE CAR BARNS THAT LEAD OVER TOWARDS BIG RIVER'S BASEMENT ARE
1880'S, 1890'S ERA UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA. THE CAR BARNS WERE BUILT IN AROUND 1906. THE
VOLUNTEER BUILDING IS ANOTHER GOOD EXAMPLE, PEOPLE WILL TOUT THAT BASEMENT BUT THE TIMING
DOESN'T WORK OUT. THE READ HOUSE IS ANOTHER GOOD EXAMPLE. WHEN YOU LOOK AT IMAGES OF THE
FORMER READ HOUSE, THE PRIOR BUILDING, THERE'S NEVER A POINT WHERE IT CHANGED, WHERE THE
LEVEL OF THE BUILDING WENT FROM SAY A FOUR STORY TO A THREE STORY BUILDING, IT WAS ALWAYS
THE SAME AS IT WAS. SO THOSE ARE SOME COMMON AREAS THAT I THINK JUST BASED ON WHAT WE'VE
SEEN PROBABLY ARE NOT UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA AS WE THINK OF IT. THEY'RE UNDERGROUND, AND
THEY'RE IN CHATTANOOGA, AND THEY'RE NEAT SPACES WITH GREAT HISTORY TO EACH OF THEM BUT THEY'RE
NOT THAT BUILDING UP OF CITY STREETS TO PREVENT FLOODING THAT WE THINK ABOUT AS UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE STANDING AT THE CORNER OF SEVENTH AND CHERRY STREETS AND REALLY
WHEN YOU START TALKING ABOUT UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA, THIS IS REALLY TO ME GROUND ZERO FOR WHERE
WE BELIEVE MOST OF THE SIGNIFICANT STREET BUILD-UP OCCURRED. WE THEORIZE THAT A LOT
OF THE FILL JUST CAME FROM ABOUT A BLOCK AND A HALF UP HERE FROM AROUND THE COURTHOUSE,
WAS BROUGHT DOWN HERE, FILLED IN THIS STREET, THAT'S WHY WE MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE MORE OF
A GRADUAL HILL HERE THATN MAYBE THEY HAD DECADES AGO. AND THE REAL EVIDENCE THAT YOU SEE HERE
ARE THE TOPS, AND YOU'LL SEE ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE OF THEM HERE, THE TOPS OF THESE WINDOW
ARCHES. YOU WOULDN'T BUILD THIS IN THE STREET AS A DECORATIVE FEATURE. THIS IS SOMETHING
WHERE, AND YOU CAN SEE IT IF YOU GET DOWN INTO THE BASEMENT WHICH IS HARD TO DO THESE
DAYS, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE OTHER SIDE OF IT. THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN SO MANY THINGS SINCE
THE 1880'S THAT YOU WONDER TO YOURSELF HOW MANY CHANGES IT'S UNDERGONE. ONE DOES NOT
PUT WINDOWS, TYPICALLY IN A BASEMENT. THERE COULD BE A QUESTION AS TO WHETHER THIS COULD
HAVE BEEN YOU KNOW, AN INTERIOR WINDOW OR SOMETHING BUT I THINK WHAT WE'RE SEEING HERE
WITH SOME OF THE MORE DECORATIVE BRICK WORK AND THE FACT THAT THIS IS MATCHED WITH A ANOTHER
WINDOW ON THE OTHER SIDE AND THERE'S A DOOR IN THE MIDDLE JUST TELLS YOU, COMBINED WITH
ALL THIS OTHER STUFF, THIS MOST LIKELY WAS AN ENTRY WAY TO A BUSINESS. AND THEN OVER
HERE FOUR FEET AWAY, WE SEE THIS IMMENSE, MONSTROUS STONE WALL. AND THIS GIVES YOU AND
IDEA OF WHAT THEY DID THEN, YOU KNOW WHERE THEY GOT THIS BUILDING SITTING HERE, YOU WANT
TO PROTECT IT FROM FLOODS SO THEY BUILT A STONE WALL, A RETAINING WALL, FILL IS ON THE
OTHER SIDE OF IT, PRESUMABLY THERE'S ANOTHER RETAINING WALL ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET
THAT'S ALL FILLED IN, AND THEN THE SIDEWALK IS RIGHT UP HERE ABOVE US. THESE ARE NOT NATIONAL
HISTORIC SITES, THESE ARE NOT NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SITES. THEY'RE THE BASEMENTS OF SOMEONE'S
BUILDING. A PRIVATE BUSINESS OWNS THIS BUILDING AND IT'S JUST THEIR BASEMENT. AND BECAUSE
THEY'RE PRIVATELY OWNED, THEIR FUTURE BECOMES PRIVATELY DETERMINED TO A DEGREE. THERE'S
LIABILITY PROBLEMS IF SOMEBODY GOES IN THERE TO EXPERIENCE UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA. WHAT
WOULD BE GREAT IF IT COULD BE DONE WOULD BE A LARGE SCALE SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF THESE SITES.
PHOTOGRAPH IT, MAP IT, GET IT IN A DOCUMENT SO WE KNOW WHERE IT IS. IT'S HARD TO SAY WE'RE
GOING TO PRESERVE IT. WE CAN'T TELL A PRIVATE BUSINESS OWNER WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR BASEMENT.
SOME SECTIONS ARE PRESERVED JUST BECAUSE NOTHINGS BEING DONE WITH IT, THERE'S NO IMPACTS GOING
ON. ON THE OTHER HAND, EVERY TIME THERE'S AN UPGRADE OF A BUILDING, SOMETHING RESTORED,
PART OF IT DISAPPEARS. THAT'S A LOT OF SPACE THAT HAS HISTORY. SOMEBODY CAN COME UP WITH
ENOUGH HISTORY THAT CAN BE AGREED UPON TO PUT ON A COUPLE OF PLAQUES. THIS IS A HELL
OF A STORY, THAT'S A GOOD STORY TO TELL, WHAT OTHER CITY HAS THAT STORY? AND TO HAVE THEM
JUST SIT THERE AND CONTINUE TO COLLECT THE DUST AND THE SILT JUST SEEMS SILLY. ONE GREAT
IDEA THAT WE'VE THOUGHT OF IS A HISTORIC SIGN JUST SHOWING "WHAT IS UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA?"
YOU HEAR ABOUT IT, SAY, IT'S UNDER HERE, AND HERE'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AND HERE'S WHAT
IS WAS. EVERYBODY'S HEARD ABOUT IT, EVERYBODY'S CURIOUS ABOUT IT, BUT MOST PEOPLE REALLY DON'T
KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT OTHER THAN THIS LEGENDARY IDEA OF AN UNDERGROUND CITY. IT'S SO FASCINATING
TO PEOPLE. TO ME IT'S- IT ILLUSTRATES WHAT CITIES DO. I MEAN, CITIES, GROW THEY EVOLVE,
THEY CHANGE AND IN THIS CASE IT STARTED LOW AND RAISED UP HIGHER AS AN ADAPTATION TO MOTHER
NATURE. THAT'S AN INDICATION OF THE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ENERGY THAT ARE HARNESSED IN URBAN
SITUATIONS, AND I THINK CHATTANOOGA HAD IT'S OWN VERSION OF A THREE-MASTED SHIP FOUND THIRTY
FEET BELOW THE GROUND IN NEW YORK HARBOR AND IN CHATTANOOGA IT'S UNDERGROUND CHATTANOOGA.