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The only aspect that will look familiar when the Alpha Tavern opens will be the rock slats on the exterior.
Everything else, though?
Let’s just say the costs of the restoration have been quite significant, confirmed Wheeling Coin partner Gary Glessner.
“That is fair to say,” he said. “But we got involved with this building because it’s been a community icon and staple for such a long time. We just felt the need to restore it and bring it back to life,” Glessner explained. “When we bought it when it was on auction, I didn’t think it was in the shape that it was. What we found inside here was a complete surprise.
“And yeah, it was pretty bad because of the age of the building, how it was put together piece by piece over the years, and because of a lack of maintenance for far too long,” he said. “We have had to address pretty much everything on the inside and on the outside. Let’s just say it’s been a lot of work to get us to this point.”
More Than Expected
Soon after the Ohio County Health Department shuttered the former restaurant on January 7, the property went up for auction and was purchased by Wheeling Coin for $380,000. The original plan called for only four months of interior and exterior renovations, but once contractors entered the structure, the timeline immediately changed.
“The biggest problem that we found inside the building involved the sub-floors and the flooring,” Glessner said. “There were crawl spaces in probably half of the building, including under the kitchen and under the bar area, and those areas had water in them whether it was ground water, fresh water, or drain water. What we did was eliminate those crawl spaces by filling them in with gravel and concrete.
“We also had to redo all of the plumbing and all of the electric, along with a lot of other things. That’s why I say that pretty much everything has been replaced and renovated. It has been a from-ground-up restoration,” he said. “As far as when we will open, right now we’re looking at the first part of September for the bar area with the restaurant opening a little bit beyond that.”
Pandemic Delays
Once “social distancing” and “new normal” became popular terms in everyone’s vocabulary thanks to Covid-19, Glessner was confronted with a construction conundrum because all of the necessary crews could not be inside the structure at the same time. In reaction, a 24-hour schedule was adopted in order to meet requirements set forth by lottery laws in West Virginia.
“The pandemic did slow us up by about 45 days,” Glessner reported. “That’s because different crews could not come in here while another crew was working. The general contractor has been in here during the days, the electricians were coming in during the night, and the others have come in when they can, too. So, it really took people working on this place around the clock.
“It’s been about safety, of course, because we couldn’t have as many people in here working at the same time as we would have liked,” he continued. “But those crews figured it out so we could get to this point by now.”
The Alpha Tavern
Iconic. Legendary.
Since 1936, a business known as “The Alpha” has operated at 50 Carmel Road, and in the near future, that will become true once again. Glessner explained the name of the soon-to-open eatery was selected with local residents in mind.
“We wanted to keep the ‘Alpha’ for sure because that’s how this place has been known for a very long time,” Glessner said. “And we chose ‘Tavern’ because these days a tavern is not known just for the alcohol. Now a tavern has really good food, a great atmosphere, and a vast array of beverages.
“So, yes, we wanted to keep the Alpha in the name but also to give it a twist that is going to surprise a lot of people the first time they walk back in this place,” he said. “All of us who are involved with this project are looking forward to seeing and hearing our customers’ reactions to what we have been able to accomplish here despite all of the challenges this building presented to us on that very first day.”
The Grub
The Sparachane family, owners of Undo’s restaurants in Benwood, Wheeling, St. Clairsville, and Weirton, will lease the renovated building and operate food service, but Glessner said potential patrons should not expect the menu to be similar to those eateries.
Instead, the cuisine will be, let’s say, different from what’s offered elsewhere.
“Wheeling Coin owns the property, and the Undo’s group formed an entity to run the restaurant operations,” Glessner explained. “They are leasing the property from Wheeling Coin, but folks should not expect the Alpha Tavern to have the same Undo’s menu.
“Beau (Catalano) has worked very hard to design a unique menu for this place, and he’s been working the past six months designing those items, and now he’s testing them for quality,” he said. “It’s going to be different from any other eatery we have in this area.”
