OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — This week, reporter Molly Hudson took you inside the Regis building that is next to the 16th Street sinkhole and showed you the big problem residents have been dealing with for months.
Since then, KMTV uncovered a timeline showing that many people knew about this void under the sidewalk before it opened up last week.
In fact, some of the older reports of a potential problem date back years.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Reporter Molly Hudson uncovered reports to the mayor’s hotline alerting the city to potential problems.
One reporting, "cracked pavement in the alleyway, ground seems hollow beneath."
Both reports were made in November of 2024.
Earlier in the year, the Regis building paid thousands to remove pounds and pounds of mud from its sub-basement.
Later in the year building residents hired an attorney and an engineer as they tried to figure out what was sending the mud into the building.
Tom Dinaro, who lives in the Regis building, says he was told about the void in the alley last summer.
"We were told about this void, 6 months ago, and that's how they described it was a void, and as you can see it is a void," Dinaro said.
But the concerns in the area go back even further.
"When did you first hear about the issue?” reporter Molly Hudson asked Austin Rowser with Public Works, on Tuesday.
Austin Rowser with Public Works told me on the phone Tuesday his first correspondence about issues in the Regis building go back to 2021 and are still investigating where the mud is coming from.
"I am concerned about the mud intrusion in there again from whatever this was, happening somewhere else," Dinaro said.
Holly Barrett, the executive director of the downtown improvement district said in a statement, this stretch of 16th Street has been a concern for years.
"Both blocks on either side had seen updates in 2014, but very little had been done regarding sidewalks, alley, or infrastructure improvements on that particular block for several decades," Barrett said in a statement.
All this leads to the question, who knew about this sinkhole and did they know about it in time to prevent bigger problems?
I've reached out to city leaders for answers, but they have so far declined my requests for an on-camera interview. As I learn more, I'll bring it to you but if you know more about this or other similar problems downtown, I want to hear from you. Email me at molly.hudson@3newsnow.com.
