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WHEELING -- The proposed South Wheeling Historic District is a step closer to reality after being endorsed officially by the West Virginia Archives and History Commission on Thursday.
The proposal now goes before the National Park Service for a final decision on the historic designation.
Ginger Kabala, president of the South Wheeling Preservation Alliance, said Friday that the state Archives and History Commission gave its unanimous endorsement to the proposed historic district. The state commission considered the matter at a meeting in Charleston Thursday.
The meeting coincided with the annual West Virginia History Day observance at the Capitol. Members of the South Wheeling Preservation Alliance and other area organizations attended the celebration.
On Feb. 14, the city's Historic Landmarks Commission also voted unanimously to recommend that the state commission nominate the neighborhood to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
If approved, the historic district would include more than 130 properties in South Wheeling.
With the designation, South Wheeling would join 11 other Wheeling neighborhoods already on the list of places recognized by the National Park Service as historically important and worthy of preservation.
The district also would provide various tax incentives for property owners.
Heritage Architectural Associates worked with Wheeling Heritage for several years to develop the proposal for a historic district.
The plan will be the focus of the South Wheeling Preservation Alliance's monthly meeting at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 3536 Eoff St. Kabala and Brother John Byrd, vice president of the alliance, said representatives of Heritage Architectural Associates will present its report and show photographs that were used to prepare the district's nomination.
"Our organization's been working for 12 years now to bring to light what South Wheeling is really all about," Kabala said.