Members of Wheeling Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that authorizes City Manager Bob Herron to move forward with the purchase of the expansive property once home to the Ohio Valley Medical Center and Hillcrest. The second reading takes place May 19.

MPT Inc. is the owner of the properties located along Chapline Street in Center Wheeling, and the company offered the land to Wheeling in exchange for all past-due amounts owed the city. Be clear that those dollars do not include what Alecto still owes in parking fees, B&O taxes, and utility fees, and the deal will not include the Byrd Juvenile Center.

A modern building with orange brick.
The Valley Professional Center could become a new police headquarters for the city of Wheeling.

Pros:

  • The Valley Professional Center would be perfect for a new, stand-alone police station;
  • The building in which Hillcrest operate could be marketed to a system such as WVU Medicine for future psychiatric care;
  • The “west building” is much newer than the structure that housed the original Ohio Valley General Hospital and could be marketed as an office building;
  • The former nurses’ residence needs demolished before it collapses on its own, and that land could be developed as the future location of a new, stand-alone fire department headquarters.
A photo of a plaza area near a hospital.
City officials have toured all of the buildings including those in the agreement with MPT Inc.

Cons:

  • There will be a cost for the razing of the nurses’ residence;
  • A predictable debate concerning the demolition of the original OVGH will delay any new development on that hilltop property for an unknown amount of time, but such a conversation could produce viable options.
An ugly, vacant building.
This dilapidated building stands on a three-acre parcel the city has investigated for a new public safety building.

And the Ugly

One more “pro” to add: Making the deal with MPT and planning for the police and fire stations on the campus would pull the city away from the three acres along 19th Street, a property that has been an eyesore for far too long in East Wheeling. Once the agreement is signed for the OVMC campus, the city should then move forward with enforcing city codes in an effort to finally force the property owner to remediate this ugly, embarrassing land.

The industrial carnage is relatively sequestered against Big Wheeling Creek and the exit ramp for W.Va. Route 2, but it has remained the first impression for northbound motorists when taking the exit to visit downtown Wheeling. These days, those areas are referred to as “gateways” and rightfully have been deemed important to the image of a community such as the Friendly City. Think about it; what does such a scene make you think each and every time about the city of Wheeling?

Progress or continued decline?

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