It is and forever will be “The Lane” to those who bowled at the Rose Bowl, bought smokes at Gilmars or penny candy at the Minute Market, watched fights spill outside of the Checkboard Bar, and had a beer and a bite to eat at Zein’s or the Alpha after playing hoops.
The Edgington Lane Playground replaced the neighborhood’s grade school in the late 1970s along a hectic street with busy businesses right in the middle of Woodsdale. And yes, it was just a playground with tennis and basketball courts, but it was much more than all of those things put together 45 years ago because it presented a child the world’s old-school “survival of the fittest” mindset in the simplest of terms.
Hold on strong or bleed and either win or be called a loser. Harsh, sure, but for some it was right-of-passage stuff, too, back in the days before liability law became its own industry.
“The Lane” was popular with the area’s best of the best male and female basketball players on the high school and college levels in the ‘80s to play most nights during the summer months, and the asphalt court remained a destination in the 1990s and early 2000s until it all got old, and then ancient.
So, for the first time in more than 40 years, the property was completely renovated last year with fresh fences, softer-surfaced play areas, new lines and nets for pickleball and tennis, and the basketball court hasn’t looked so good in a couple of decades.
Updating the city’s playgrounds was an initiative important to Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott when he was first elected in May 2016, and the multiple makeovers have improved neighborhoods throughout the city. This time around he and each Wheeling Council member voted in favor of the $538,550 price tag, and the project was funded by a $280,120 Land and Water Conservation Grant, a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation, and a $158,385 contribution from the City.
“This playground was a bigger project because of the property’s footprint,” said Wheeling City Manager Bob Herron. “We’ve heard it’s been very popular with kids and their parents (and) that’s exactly what you want to hear about a playground.”
