It started here in Wheeling, believe it or not, back in the 1940s. That’s when people started leaving the Friendly City for opportunity across the Ohio River. There were 60,659 residents in Wheeling in 1930, and little by a lot since, the city’s population has dipped below 27,000 for the first time in 150 years.
And when that takes place, the tax base shrinks, changes take place, decay threatens safety, crime increases, and government kicks cans down the road over and over again. Thankfully, efforts have been made by both the private and public sectors over the past few decades to bridge the region’s Rust Belt era to a still undefined but developing resurrection.
One significant advantage Wheeling will have is, by the end of 2025, the state will have spent more than $360 million on infrastructure makeovers to the bridges and ramps along Interstate 70, to the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and on the current $32 million streetscape in the downtown.
“Everyone knows downtown Wheeling will never be the retail area it once was because that’s not what downtown are these days,” said Erikka Storch, a former state lawmaker who was the Chamber of Commerce president during the 2010s. “The interstate work was long overdue, and the project on the Suspension Bridge was on the schedule for eight years until it finally took place because of the tour bus incident.
“Even though the streetscape was delayed a couple of times because of the city, it’s still going to make a very positive difference in our downtown, and that’s very exciting to me. I can’t wait to see it for myself and I’m sure a lot of other people feel the same way,” she said. “I just know I’m thankful for the vision of former mayor Andy McKenize. If he didn’t see what was possible, and then make the deal with the state, who knows where’d we be today.”
Another advantage, ironically, will be delivered by destruction.
The $7 million demolition of the OVMC campus officially started nine days ago with crews starting with the Northwood and Hillcrest buildings. The plan calls for both of the former nurse’s quarters to be taken down next, and then the South and East buildings and the Education and Administration structure will follow.
The West Tower, home of the general hospital and its EMSTAR unit until the sudden closure in late September 2019, is last on general contractor F.R. Bienke’s razing list.
“It’s going to be a gradual process because of how large the campus is, and because of the removal of the materials that have to be moved away,” explained Bob Herron, Wheeling’s city manager since 2001. “The asbestos removal has taken place, and now the company will go one building at a time. It’s going to take some time.
“But after the demolition, WVU (Health System) will begin the construction of the regional cancer center, so that’s the good news,” he said. “We’re also demolishing the parking garage on Chapline (Street), so a lot is happening in that area right now.”
