“Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
That quote appears on the Facebook Timeline created by Jeffrey Morris, the president of Roxby Development, and it may just explain why he has guided the company to acquire a few of the least seen properties that have long existed in the city of Wheeling.
Morris, a member of the Linsly Class of 2005, began his Friendly City adventure by purchasing the Mount Carmel Monastery, a Spanish-style structure in Woodsdale that housed Carmelite nuns for decades until it closed in 1975. Since then the spacious building has been an office building with more than 15 apartments usually rented by students from Wheeling University.
The plan Morris had for the monastery in February 2020 was to transform it into a boutique hotel and reception center before leaving for another project in some other city somewhere.
“I couldn’t wait to leave this area when I was in high school,” he admitted. “I really did think I would come back for two years to do the hotel, and then I would be off again. But that changed.”
It sure did.
Roxby then acquired the Scottish Rite Cathedral and then entered into purchase partnerships with Grow Ohio Valley to own the Cliff House West (former Pointe Overlook Museum) and the 12th Street Garage, both of which are going through extensive renovations.
But it was the acquisition of the historic McLure House in the heart of downtown Wheeling that raised eyebrows and piqued the Valley’s collective curiosity.
“The only way downtown Wheeling was ever going to be a destination again, it had to start with the McLure because of where it’s located and what it represents for this city,” Morris insisted. “But now that it is happening, I know it’s made a lot of people feel as if the floodgates have opened. I look for more to take place in downtown and throughout the city.”
Behind the Brown Paper
Most of the windows on the street level of the hotel on the corner of 12th and Market streets have been covered to hide the renovations taking place inside those former storefronts and, according to Morris, when the paper is removed local residents will see amenities never before available within the downtown district.
“We know everyone likes to remember what Wheeling used to have along Main and Market (streets), but it’s a different time, and those stores and shops are somewhere else now,” the developer explained. “Downtowns have changed throughout the country, and it’s time for that to finally happen here.”
The McLure House has 173 rooms, a ballroom large enough to seat 450 guests, restaurant and lounge areas on the bottom level, and a never-used gathering area on the eighth floor. The number of rooms will be reduced in the future as the seventh floor becomes the suite level, and the lobby/front desk area will be updated as well.
“The hospitality industry has evolved so much since the McLure was renovated in the 1980s, so what we have planned over the next few years is going to be exciting,” Morris said. “If the top level of the hotel would have been used as it was intended, the McLure would have been ahead of its time. We plan to do just that.”
Unseen Sights
Each time Morris guides a tour through the five levels of the Scottish Rite Cathedral, he hears, “Whoa!” and “Wow!” over and over again.
And he never tires of it.
The enormous structure that rests at 83 14th Street in East Wheeling once was a very secluded property utilized only by a council of Freemasonry, the West Virginia “valley” of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. There were events open to the public from time to time, but mostly the members conducted business shrouded in privacy.
“I have always loved the architecture in Wheeling, and the Scottish Rite is like no other building in this city,” Morris said. “It’s not only grand on the outside but is very much so on the inside.”
Renovations are taking place on each of the five levels to transition the Scottish Rite into a full-fledged event center on the first, second, and fifth levels, and Sarel Venter and Rebekah Karelis have been charged with the preservation of the historic, 107-year-old building. There are meeting and dining areas on the first floor, a large ballroom and kitchen area on the second, and a 250-seat theatre on the fifth level.
“It’s really exciting when someone comes into the Scottish Rite for the first time,” Morris said. “Until then, they have only heard about what’s on the inside, but seeing it for yourself is completely different. I know it was for me when I walked through the very first time.
“I knew what we had to do, then, too,” he said. “And it is spreading throughout the city because there so much potential here. That’s what kept me here, and I love it here now. This is my home all over again.”
Morris has an interest in several other structures in downtown Wheeling, and he’s toured a few, too. Those closest to him honestly never know when he will make the next acquisition, but when Morris does, they are eager to hear his vision for the property.
“Well,” the Roxby president said, “you know what they say, right?”
Why yes.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
