A majority of City Council members in Wheeling voted in favor of granting City Manager Bob Herron the authority to enter into negotiations with any interested parties in the former campus of the Ohio Valley Medical Center.
Mayor Glenn Elliott abstained from voting for unexplained reasons and did not attend the special meeting.
The seven members of Wheeling Council were summoned to a special meeting scheduled for noon to consider a resolution involving a Letter of Intent for the former OVMC Campus, according to documentation posted on the city’s website, wheelingwv.gov.
The resolution permits City Manager Bob Herron to negotiate and enter into a letter of intent for the purpose of development and future utilization of the former OVMC campus.
“The city continues to work very hard to bring this property back to a meaningful and productive use,” said Councilman Ben Seidler, the representative of Ward 2. “I have no further comments at this time.”
The OVMC campus has six different buildings, including the West Tower, the former 200-bed medical facility. The last occupant, Alecto-West Virginia, closed the hospital in late-September 2019, leaving more than 800 employees without jobs.
The city of Wheeling acquired the campus from Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPT) in June 2020, and the properties have been marketed ever since. The former Ohio Valley Professional Center will re-open as the Wheeling Police Headquarters in late November, according to Herron.
