Tonight will be a real test.
That’s how Kurt Zende feels about the single-digit temperatures predicted by the National Weather Service for the Wheeling area this evening and the infrastructure within the buildings on the former campus of the Ohio Valley Medical Center. Zende, the economic development specialist for the city of Wheeling, was assigned to the campus after City Council approved the acquisition in June 2020.
Since then Zende has been recruiting new tenants for the six structures, and he is close to agreements with several entities. What he has found, however, is that the former occupants and ownership, Alecto-West Virginia and MPT LLC, failed to properly maintain the “guts” of the grounds.
“I’ll be perfectly honest when I say that Alecto did not take care of this place at all,” Zende reported. “They even put the wrong chemicals into the boiler, and there are also issues with the oxygen and a lot of corroded pipes on the inside of the buildings that really should have been addressed when there was a hospital here.
“There was no way for anyone with the city to know those things when they were doing their due diligence, but here we are,” he said. “That’s why I am not a real big fan of Alecto or MPT.”
Knock on Wood
So far, though, so good.
Although the Upper Ohio Valley has experienced very mild winters in recent years, it is truly anyone’s guess what the weather will be. That is why Zende and the members of his small maintenance staff keep a close eye on the interior infrastructure to make certain the heat flows when it is supposed to, and that the six structures are warm.
“We have experienced some minor difficulties with split heating lines and split drains that we are replacing,” Zende explained. “Everything does seem to be heating pretty well, and we haven’t lost anything yet as far as major water issues. We are worried about the cold when it gets down between zero and 10 degrees, so tonight and the rest of this week should be very telling.
“We have to hope that all of the Remington units that are on the outside walls don’t freeze up,” he said. “Plus, most of the infrastructure on campus is not new at all, so we’ll have to watch after the pumps to make sure they are all working. During these frigid months, it’s a constant challenge because there are three other guys and I who are doing everything we can to take care of this campus.”
The members of the overnight security staff also help.
“We have McKeen Security here all night, and they have been doing a great walking around and making sure everything is working properly,” Zende said. “Now, there are some issues in some of the buildings, but because those areas are empty right now, those projects are scheduled for when it gets warmer.
“It’s really day-to-day for the people here, and that’s fine because we have had a lot of interest expressed by people from this area and from outside the area, too,” he said. “I had a lot to learn; I can tell you that. It’s like studying for a master’s degree because there’s so much to digest. I am very thankful that we have the three guys we do have here because they are experts at running these buildings. They have been here on this campus for a lot of years, so their level of expertise is very high.”
The Resurrection
Zende and his staff members are not the only people in the large campus because Youth Services System is operating its Winter Freeze Shelter on the third floor of the former home of Hillcrest, and Help Heroes has started to renovate the same structure’s second floor for future use.
The city signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bluefield State University a few weeks ago, and a second one is forthcoming for a couple of floors in the East Building that housed Ohio Valley General Hospital. Plus, discussions have continued with parties interested in the West Tower, and the Ohio County Family Resource Network likely represents the first of several non-profits to relocate into the South Building.
“I did expect the interest in the buildings on the campus, and with Covid, I knew this was going to move slower than it would have without the virus,” Zende said. “We are not attempting to be competitive with the private sector. That’s not our goal. But with the non-profits, it makes sense for them to be located in the South Building because that would allow them to combine their resources.
“Plus, the South Building has that huge parking lot in the back, and there is plenty of room for storage in the basement of the building,” he said. “But, as far as the South Building is concerned, those floors can be leased as-is at market rate because they are in great condition. I think by this time next year the South Building will be at least half full if not more.”
