WHEELING - Ohio Valley Medical Center officials still plan to break ground for the new $6 million HillCrest Behavioral Health Center by spring. The hospital, however, must proceed without taking control of Center Wheeling's Lane D from the city.
"We have made some modifications to our design and are moving ahead," OVMC spokeswoman Maggie Espina said as she acknowledged that the hospital dropped its request for the city to abandon Lane D - running between 22nd Street and Lane 19 just south of OVMC - to the hospital as part of the HillCrest project.
Last week, Matthew Gompers, owner of Gompers Pharmacy at 2202 Chapline St., told members of the Wheeling Development Committee that giving OVMC control of Lane D would both harm his pharmacy business and decrease the value of some adjacent property he owns at 2214 Chapline St. by restricting access. Lane D runs between Gompers Pharmacy and the plot of land on which the hospital plans to construct the new HillCrest center.
OVMC is "dragging City Council in here to cut this off and get something for free," Gompers said last week.
After considering the hospital's request for lane abandonment and Gompers' counterpoints, the three committee members - Mayor Andy McKenzie, Vice Mayor Eugene Fahey and Councilwoman Gloria Delbrugge - unanimously voted to hold a second meeting on the matter. Now, there will be no need for such a meeting.
"I am just glad this is over. ... I never wanted it to get that far," Gompers said in reacting to OVMC's decision to drop the lane abandonment request.
"I am really trying to be a friendly neighbor with them," he added.
Gompers also noted that he supports the HillCrest project, as he said, "I truly wish OVMC good luck with their new building."
Espina said the hospital never intended to harm Gompers' interests.
"Certainly, we would never want to cause any hardship for any local business," she said.
Gompers also expressed an interest in "swapping" the property he owns at 2214 Chapline St. for a slice of some hospital-owned property. To this point, however, the parties have made no deal regarding the possible property exchange.
U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., secured $5.7 million for the project - designed to be an adolescent mental health facility built in what is currently a hospital-owned vacant lot - earlier this year. Hospital officials plan to cover the remainder of the cost of the 36-bed facility they hope will be open by fall 2011.
The West Virginia Health Care Authority on Nov. 19 received OVMC's application for a Certificate of Need for the project. Before the hospital can begin construction, the authority must first approve the certificate.