Construction on Schedule for new Wheeling Police Department Headquarters

WHEELING -- Construction is about a third of the way completed at the city of Wheeling's new $6.5 million police headquarters, which remains on schedule to open this summer.

Ground was ceremonially broken in September for the new Wheeling Police Department headquarters at 2115 Chapline St., the former Valley Professional Building that was once part of the Ohio Valley Medical Center complex.

City leaders opted for renovation of this existing building for the new police headquarters after the city acquired the majority of the buildings on the OVMC campus in 2020. Waller Corporation of Washington, Pennsylvania, was awarded the general contract for the project, which was designed by M&G Architects and Engineers of Wheeling.

"That project is about 25-35% overall completed," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron reported to city council this week. "It still is on schedule to be done in August of 2022."

Work at the site has been ongoing since last year, and officials have been encouraged that material shortages and related construction delays have not been experienced at the site in the wake of the supply chain crisis that has impacted construction projects locally and across the nation.

"Fortunately, we have not run into any supply chain issues as a result of the pandemic," Herron said. "Obviously that could change between now and then, but so far so good on the police headquarters project."

Once the new headquarters is completed, the 30,000-square-foot facility will replace the cramped 4,500-square-foot space the Wheeling Police Department currently occupies inside the City-County Building at 1500 Chapline St. downtown. The police headquarters has been operating out of this facility since 1959, and in recent years, officials have asserted that the department has long outgrown the space.

The new multi-level headquarters will have a sally port entrance, a large evidence unit, rooms for civilian staff such as victim's advocates, training facilities, meeting spaces, administrative offices and other features.

Funding for the new police headquarters is being generated through the city of Wheeling's new city service fee - or user fee - which since 2019 has been collecting $2 per week from everyone who works within the city limits. Half of the user fee money is designated to go toward the new projects for public safety facilities - including the new police and fire department headquarters - with the other half going toward needed infrastructure projects.

City leaders noted that the ball got rolling on a number of major projects last year, and as Wheeling moves into 2022, many of these projects will be completed or will take a major step forward toward completion.

"We have a lot of things going on – in motion right now – that are exciting," Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said. "The new police headquarters rehab is in progress. The new fire department headquarters' site is being prepared for demolition soon. The demolition of the Chase Bank building is taking place right now, which will make way for a future parking structure – which will then make way for future downtown development. Demolition is ongoing at 19th and Jacob streets at the former factory location ... it's close to being mostly done."

The mayor indicated that this progress is a good sign of things to come for 2022.