Barry Allen Wants the U.S. President to Stay in His Hotel

He doesn’t know what kind of restaurant will be on the first floor, if Suspension Bridge souvenirs will be sold in the gift shop, and as far as the name of the hotel is concerned, well, Barry Allen doesn’t know that either.

He does know, however, that he wants the President of the United States to stay the night on the corner of 14^th and Main.

Allen joined civic leaders and government officials early last week to announce his plans to construct a $63 million, 122-room hotel and event center on downtown Wheeling’s riverfront. His development team currently is working to finalize demolition plans soon for the structures standing across from Wesbanco Arena, including the former Mountain Mama’s, Wheeling Coffee & Spice, and National Equipment, so razings can take place in the late Fall.

Allen hopes to welcome his first guest in April 2026.

“The one thing I want this hotel to have is a Presidential Suite that truly is presidential. And I want the President of the United States to stay the night in our Presidential Suite,” the former popsicle manufacturer admitted. “We’ve had a lot of presidents come to Wheeling, and if they speak at Wesbanco Arena or the Capitol Theatre, I would like them to stay with us.

“That’s what I hope, anyway,” Allen said with a broad smile. “If nothing else, if we have a unique-to-Wheeling Presidential Suite that people talk about after staying there, I think that would be a really neat thing for the city.”

Allen is a native of Nashville, and he moved to Wheeling 17 years ago after marrying his bride, Lisa, who was the chairperson of the board of The Ziegenfelder Company before the Budget Saver Twin Pop maker was sold in January 2022. Allen served in several capacities with the company, including president and “Chief People Officer, but he and his wife retired following the acquisition.

Until now, that is, and that’s why the Tennessee native created the “Vol for Life” development firm and worked with city and county officials and hospitality consultants to create the vision he released last week.

“To be honest, I want to do this in Wheeling because the folks in this town have been good to me and my family. I felt that when our company, Ziegenfelder’s, was burning to the ground back in January of 2019 and the city manager Bob Herron stood next to me in 10-degree weather and told me the City would be there for us. He didn’t have to make any promises. His presence was enough.

“The fact he was present there with me meant everything to me, and it’s one of the reasons why I believe more people in Wheeling need to be present and that can mean a lot of different things,” he said. “We’ll continue traveling to see family. We do that a lot now and we’ll continue, but we live here and that’s why I wanted to do something that would leave a footprint in Wheeling that would cause my kids to want stay here. I want people to come to Wheeling and say, ‘Wow.’”

What’s In a Name?

Along with the 122 hotel rooms, Allen also is planning at least eight condominiums, one of which will be more than 2,500 square feet large and will face the original “Gateway to the West.”

The projected 100,000 square feet building also will include a coffee shop, a bar and restaurant, retail space, a rooftop entertainment area and bar, and another event space within the hotel.

The three properties and five buildings needed for the construction will be purchased in part by using the city’s TIF District funds and through its economic entity, the Ohio Valley Area Development Corp., for nearly $2.2 million. Allen has agreed to reimburse the city for the property purchases if the project fails to move forward.

“Before you even get into a situation where you need a feasibility study, you should have the land, the support, the plan, and the renderings, so we took care of those pieces of the puzzle, and then we had to present it all to the company we hired, the Southern Hospitality Group in South Carolina,” Allen explained. “That’s when we selected the Highland Group for the feasibility study.

“A young lady named Kim Barral came to Wheeling and spent a little it of time here to access what we have here in the downtown, the economy, and other things like that,” he said. “After a little bit, she sent a two-page summary that allowed us to continue on to the full, 49-page explanation why our hotel idea is or is not a feasible idea for downtown Wheeling.”

Downtown Wheeling is, for the first time in more than a century, without a “go-to” option for lodging now with the former Wheeling Inn set for demolition at some point this summer, and, while the McLure Hotel is open at 12^th and Market streets, challenges with the facility have limited occupancy since the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department allowed the lodge to reopen in March after heating and hot water issues caused its closure.

So, a new downtown hotel would check all the boxes.

“And the report told us what we already knew – Wheeling is ready for a 122-room hotel with the amenities would want to include,” Allen said. “The suites, the river views, the balconies, a rooftop bar, a restaurant, and event spaces – the report stated that our plan would work.

“Of course, we paid the consultant to tell us if it wouldn’t work, too, but that’s not what was returned to us, and it was based on a lot of facts and figures that are involved,” he explained. “Trust me, if the feasibility study would have stated that it was a bigger risk than we thought, well, then I would’ve found another way to give back to the city of Wheeling. I would have moved on to another plan.”

Now, it could be a Hyatt, or maybe a Marriott. The renderings offer hints of Hilton, too.

Truth is, Allen doesn’t know which hospitality group he’ll partner with either, but he does have goals.

“When I met with the mayor about the project, he asked me what I wanted to accomplish. I told him, if this hotel is a success, I wanted to funnel some of the profits back to the city of Wheeling to restore buildings, help with the homeless, and upgrade education somehow, and I want to lead a group of at least 10 businesses in Wheeling that will do the same with a portion of their profits,” Allen explained. “Listen, we don’t have to do this hotel. We don’t have to go back to work. We’re retired and The Lord has blessed us.

“If this venture is successful, we’re going to give back. It’s that simple,” he said. “I don’t know how much money that will be, but I do know it’ll be more than what they have today.”

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