With Wheeling City Council considering whether to demolish the former Rite Aid building at 1135 Market Street, members will receive an update on this and other Tax Increment Financing projects.
Councilwoman Gloria Delbrugge will join Mayor Andy McKenzie, Vice Mayor Eugene Fahey, and Councilmen Don Atkinson, James Tiu, Robert "Herk" Henry and Vernon Seals as City Manager Robert Herron provides a five-year TIF progress report during a public hearing to begin the 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting in City Council Chambers on the second floor of the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St.
TIF is a tool that permits governments to use anticipated gains to finance improvements that are expected to create those gains that increase the tax value of the area in question. In September 2008, council spent $715,000 worth of TIF to purchase the G.C. Murphy, River City Dance Works and Rite Aid buildings in the 1100 block of Main and Market streets.
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Photo by Casey Junkins
As Wheeling City Council considers the fate of the former G.C. Murphy building in the 1100 block of Main and Market streets, members will learn the status of this and other Tax Increment Financing projects.
In May 2008, the West Virginia Development Office approved up to $8 million worth of Wheeling TIF projects, though council has only issued the $715,000 worth of bonds to date.
In accounting for the $8 million, the TIF application gave city officials the option to use $2.5 million to redevelop the 1100 block of Main and Market streets and $2.5 million for renovation and rehabilitation of the Capitol Theater.
After more than a year of searching for tenants and exploring options, Tiu and Henry do not see much of a future for the Rite Aid structure.
Tiu would like to demolish the Rite Aid building to create a "historically correct alleyway." Tiki Bar and Grill owner James Grace suggests council use the city-owned G.C. Murphy building as a center for teenagers to give local youth something to do.
Members also will vote on an ordinance granting the Historic Landmarks Commission the authority to regulate fencing in the downtown area, such as the fence along 11th Street in the Market Plaza.
This proposal would set no specific height or construction requirements, but would grant the commission the ability to decide what is appropriate.