Dear Local Representatives:

Folks, it’s time to take IT back. IT’s ours anyway. For all the wrong reasons, we allowed IT to be swiped away.

We’re talking about the portal that could be the most traveled in the history of the United States thanks to innovation and adventure, and the city of Wheeling owns IT.

IT is the “Gateway to the West”. The first one, so, the real one, and soon IT will no longer be hidden by dilapidation. And that will be one great day when the Wheeling Suspension, the historical, architectural, and engineering miracle designed by Charles Ellet Jr. in the mid-1800s, can again be seen connecting the original America to the rest of the world.

Sure, the Gateway Arch is a terrific monument celebrating that region’s role in the development of the west, but is there a “St. Louis” if there’s not the first bridge to span the Ohio River in Wheeling? Who knows that answer for sure, but the point is the point and it’s our hope the local “Dream Team” of movers and shakers will navigate this opportunity for Wheeling to officially reclaim the historical significance as our country’s catapult city.

Sincerely,

Finders Keepers