Downtown Wheeling Property Owner Hopes Fire Escape on 95-Year-Old Building Sill Spur New Business
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WHEELING -- A 95-year-old building will soon attract new businesses to downtown Wheeling thanks to the installation of a fire escape.
Downtown property owner and businessman Dean Connors oversaw the fire escape's installation at his 1035 Chapline St. building this week.
Now, having the fire escape will allow Connors to lease the second and third floors of the building, which he dubs the "Kaylex Building" as an amalgamation of his daughters' names.
"It's a great building," said Connors, who also owns the company CMS Bankcard Serivces. "The plan from day one has always been to have this fire escape, because you have to have two forms of egress."
Connors purchased the building in November 2017 and worked to remodel its three floors.
The first floor is currently used by Information Helpline, and he's looking for commercial tenants for the upper floors.
The 1920s-era building itself has had a long history, Connors said. Originally, it was a warehouse for fruits and vegetables to be sold at the Upper Market House downtown, and for many years it was Stenger Office Supplies. Most recently, it was home to Lynn Pottery.
Though Connors always planned to install a fire escape, a program from the city of Wheeling allowed him to make it happen more quickly. Connors received a $13,100 grant from the city's Facade Improvement Program in December, which will help cover the approximate $50,000 cost to install the structure.
"These two floors could sit empty, but the city wants to see these upper floors full because those people will then pay (business and occupation) tax," Connors said. "This is the way of incentivizing people like myself to be able to improve their properties to attract more businesses."
Through the program, the city can provide grants to downtown commercial property owners for work to improve the exteriors of their buildings.
"Obviously I think it's a great program," Connors said. "It certainly helps us achieve our long-term goals faster."
The fire escape went up on Thursday, and Connors noted that all of the workers were local, apart from the design team from Pittsburgh.
"We want to continue to see Wheeling, especially downtown Wheeling, be rebranded and reborn and grow again," he said. "There's been a couple generations that sort of let things slip, and I'm proud to be a part of this resurgence."