Dear Fellow Wheeling Residents:
There’s this building that is cavernous with areas totally renovated and others the same since Henry Schmulbach opened it in 1907.
Two of the 12 floors are up to code as far as fire suppression, plumbing, and electrical, and some offices have grey carpet, some have red, and others sky blue. Before Coon Restoration cleaned out the structure, a walk through was like experiencing time travel while strolling through each floor where the steel companies conducted business. Those offices, vacated in 2015, were left scattered and family photos and knickknacks remained on many of the desks.
Now, it’s empty and it’s cold inside. To enter a lot of the restrooms takes two steps up. On the first floor there’s this mail room with drop shoots from each floor, and a large area where a cafeteria once operated. The front walk used to be heated, and structure once stood as a the symbol of a steel giant in the United States. In downtown Wheeling, mind you.
And there seems a chance a transformation could be really, actually, possibly possible, and if so, such a development would stoke a continuation of the reinvention of downtown Wheeling.
Since Nick Sparachane was mayor of Wheeling between 2000-2008, Wheeling’s downtown has been a focus for revitalization by city government, and the former Stone & Thomas now houses more than 450 jobs thanks to Williams Lea Tag, and an ancient former factory (Wheeling Stamping) in danger of demolition was miraculously transformed into the Orrick’s global headquarters. Then, when Andy McKenzie was mayor (2008-1016), The Health Plan agreed to relocate its headquarters to the 1100 block of downtown, and the Stone Center Lofts were developed as was the Boury Lofts complex.
So, in the last 20 years, an addition of more than 1,000 people either work and/or live in downtown Wheeling has taken place, and the Wheeling Chamber of Commerce has stated there are more people working in the downtown district than ever before.
But now developer Steve Coon is talking about more than 100 new apartments in the Schmulbach Building, which would translate to a couple of hundred additional folks working and LIVING in downtown Wheeling. Every single one of them would be in search of convenience, too.
Right now, though, a man cannot buy a pair of socks in downtown Wheeling, and a female would be hard pressed to purchase a pair of pumps. But if this proposal, which would include demolition and excavation along Market Street to make way for the construction of a new, $11 million parking garage, lands on Wheeling Council’s agenda, the city’s residents should support our council members who are in favor to move forward.
That’s right … build it and they will come … and maybe there even will be a grocery store, too.
Sincerely,
Friendly City Folks Praying for Progress
