Both chiefs of Wheeling’s first-responder agencies are curious about what could occur during the regular meeting of Wheeling Council at noon this coming Tuesday.
Does the plan for a public safety building fade? Will the police and fire departments remain separated. or are the three acres on 19th Street still an option?
Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said the Valley Professional Center easily could be renovated into a new police headquarters. The building, located across Chapline Street from the Center Wheeling campus, has 38,000 square feet and would be part of the agreement with MPT, LLC. Fire Chief Larry Helms explained that although he prefers other locations near the campus and in East Wheeling for a stand-alone headquarters, he is concerned that if the city does not take possession, the property will sit empty for an extended period of time.
A vote on whether or not to complete the acquisition is listed under “Unfinished Business” on Wheeling Council’s meeting agenda after it was tabled on June 2.
Does the Public Understand the Need?
He has offered in-person and virtual tours.
He has explained how his officers have to eat lunch at a table that also is used to process seized drugs, and that the evidence room is supposed to be an office.
And Chief Schwertfeger has been repeating those messages for more than two years.
“There are times when I do think the public understands that the need is very real, but then there are other times when it appears that some don’t,” Schwertfeger said. “There were people who were campaigning for Council seats who said they would work to repeal the User Fee because there isn’t a need for more space for our departments in Wheeling.
“Those individuals most likely have never been inside the Wheeling Police Department, or they know nothing at all about policing today,” he said. “I can assure you that this is not a wish-list thing, but rather a need, and I have repeated that now for more than two years. I hope Council does their due diligence because I was ready yesterday to move forward.”
That is because the current headquarters can not house 73 officers, civilian staff, and the equipment needed for policing Wheeling these days, or the department’s fleet of vehicles.
“Along with offices and areas for staff, we also need space for equipment that, right now, is stored in several different areas in the city,” the police chief said. “We’re also in need for more space for all of our vehicles, too, because some of them are parked at several different locations that are not close to our current headquarters.
“I do love the Valley Professional Center. I think it has the space that we need, and it is designed how I think it should be for a police headquarters,” Schwertfeger continued. “Renovations will be necessary, and I am told that it would not be a complicated process. It’s a great space, and the location is ideal, in my opinion.”
Choice No. 1
Initially, it was a three-story public safety building on the corner of 10th and Market streets, and then it was a one-story version along 19th Street in East Wheeling. Both proposals, however, were not ideal in Schwertfeger’s opinion because of potential issues with square footage.
But the Valley Professional Center?
“This all started about two-and-a-half years ago with the tax levy, and that first design was OK, but that went away because it did not receive 60 percent approval from the voters,” Schwertfeger explained. “I am concerned that the police department will get shorted on space or square footage because I believe the department needs at least 30,000 square feet.
“I believe the Valley Professional Center would give us at least 35,000 square feet,” he said. “Multiple members of my staff have toured it, and afterward each of us said that it was our choice No. 1. I loved it, and I love that the parking garage is next door, and there is an entrance connected to the Valley Professional Center. The attached surface parking lot could be made into a secure parking area for our vehicles.”
Stand Alone
If the Valley Professional Center does become the new headquarters for the Wheeling Police Department, the need for a new fire department headquarters does not dissipate. Currently, HQ is located on the bottom of the Center Wheeling Parking Garage along Market Street.
It leaks. It smells. It’s cramped, and it’s crowded.
But even if at least four council members approve the acquisition of the OVMC campus come Tuesday, Helms prefers potential locations over constructing the headquarters on land now occupied by the former nurses’ residence.
“As I have told the city manager, that is not my place of choice. I do think the nurses’ residence does need to come down because that structure has been in bad shape for a long time,” the fire chief said. “Could we situate our headquarters there? We could, but it’s not my ideal choice.
“Now, that is where we could end up, but we have continued looking at other possible sites,” Helms said. “The sites are in that area, and there’s also one in East Wheeling that is not down on 19th Street. I am looking for a location that is good for our responses, and I am also looking hard at this decision so it’s a positive for our department down the road.”
The Homesteads
Every location where firefighters report in the city of Wheeling are in below-average condition, and that includes HQ and six firehouses in Warwood, South Wheeling, Woodsdale, North Wheeling, Elm Grove, and Wheeling Island. There are firefighters at those seven locations every hour of every day of every month in a year that’s included a pandemic.
“So far, renovations to our firehouses have not started yet, and I’m hoping that can get started soon because there are issues in all of them concerning the roofs and the HVAC systems,” he said. “I believe those projects will get started in the fall after everything is figured out with the budget. That’s part of the planning process, and it’s very understandable.”
“We believe a new building for a department headquarters should be between 34-36,000 square feet so we have room for all of the equipment that, right now, is scattered all over the city because we don’t have room at our headquarters now,” Helms said. “I would like to see the new headquarters have at least six bays with of two of them for our maintenance personnel. The space they have now is very restrictive.”
Chief Helms, of course, will not cast a vote on Tuesday pertaining to the agreement, but for him it comes down to the prevention of a potentially catastrophic blaze.
“I think there are two ways to look at it. It could be a win-win, or it potentially could be a burden down the road,” Helms explained. “My biggest concern, though, is if someone like the city doesn’t do something, it could continue sitting vacant, and that’s not a good thing.
“I would prefer to see it vacant for the shortest time possible,” he said. “I know a piece of the campus has been looked at for the police department, and I think it would be a good fit for what Shawn is looking for, so, yes, it could be a win-win. As far as it’s worth and what the city would get it for, I believe it’s worth it, but you also have to ask how the city maintains it before it gets occupied by someone else.”
