The plan to remove the iconic and historic beacon lettering from the chimney of the East Tower remains in place according to Wheeling’s City Manager Bob Herron.
Crews with F.R. Beinke Wrecking Inc. have progressed swiftly with the demolition of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center campus in Center Wheeling, a 14-month project that started in January and included seven structures and nearly 800,000 square feet. The South Tower, a building that housed a plethora of doctors’ and treatment offices, was razed most recently, and now workers have started to chip away at the West Tower.
The demolition is an $8.6 million project funded by multiple sources including the City, Ohio County, and WVU Health Systems.
“They’ve moved along very well so far, and now they are working on the West Tower where the main hospital was,” Herron said. “We thought initially the West Tower would be the last to go, but they changed direction and that’s 100 percent their call. That area of Chapline Street has been closed for a few weeks just to be on the safe side.
“If you look up at the West Tower from Chapline Street, you can tell just how large a building it is,” he said. “That’s why I expect the company to take the full 14 months of the demolition period to get it all down and cleared. It has to be at least 10 stories tall if not more from Chapline, but the asbestos has been removed so it’s coming down now.”
That decision has allowed for additional planning for the removal of the O-V-G-H beacon letters from the East Tower, the building that housed the original Ohio Valley General Hospital. The seven-story structure gradually was transitioned into an office building once the West Tower medical facility was operational in April 1980.
“WVU Health System has agreed to remove the O-V-G-H from the smokestack, and the City has agreed to store them,” Herron confirmed. “Before anything happens, though, the asbestos has to be removed from that building. Once that’s complete, I’m sure the project will continue.
“I was surprised at how quickly the South Tower came down, but I know the East Tower was constructed a lot earlier so it might be sturdier than the others,” Herron said. “I know there are bricks that need to be saved, too, and some other items because of the great history the hospital has here in the city of Wheeling.”
In late January soon after the demolition began, former nurse Betty Jo Sproull told WTRF TV7 she hoped the beacon letters could be placed “near the former hospital because that’s where all the memories are.”
The city manager said there’s a very real possibility Sproull’s wish will be granted.
“We plan to work more with local historians to find a good spot for the letters,” Herron said. “We are already looking at a couple of areas, and one of them is the top level of our new police headquarters right across the street from the former OVMC campus. We acquired the former Ohio Valley Professional Center (from Medical Properties Trust) and renovated it for our police department so the building could be the perfect spot.”
Along with the razing of the medical campus, the City plans to demolish the Center Wheeling Parking Garage, a facility that has not been open to the public for more than two years because of structure issues. The headquarters for the Wheeling Fire Department, located since 1976 in the basement of the garage, was displaced two months ago.
“The plan right now on the property where the Center Wheeling Parking Garage is to build a two-story garage on Chapline, and down on Market Street there are a few different possibilities for development on the bottom level that we’ve talked about,” Herron revealed. “No decisions have been made because the garage isn’t even down yet, but we’ll get there next year.
“At this point in time, I’m not sure where (WVU Health Systems) is with the design phase for the cancer center because we’re still in the demolition period, but there is a long-term lease with performance measures in it that is in place,” he said. “This all started back in June of 2020, so we’re looking forward to the time when the new cancer center is operational and lives are being saved on this property once again.”
